Dennis & Pat Syrett
From Lacey Green History
Dennis Syrett and Patrica Berry married in 1954.
Note by Joan West. (regular attender at Loakes Park with my father in my teens). Dennis was already well known locally as the goalkeeper of Wycombe Wanderers Football team. They had played at Wembley in the Amateur Cup Final - unfortunately they lost. He also played in an English team, put together to play in Nigeria against Ghana as part of the Indpendence celebrations of Nigeria. They were there for a month and treated like royalty. He later had an art shop in Castle Street, High Wycombe.
Dennis and Pat had two sons.
Pat was a teacher. First in Edgware, then in Marlow before coming as deputy head to Walters Ash School under Wyndham Bradley. She took over the headship when Wyndham retired. click Wyndham & Diane Bradley for more about Wyndham.
Hallmark February 1995. Notice. Congratulations to Dennis Syrett of Main Road on his election to Associate Membership of both the Royal Society of Marine Artists and the Royal Institute of Oil Painters
In 2004 the editor of Hallmark paid tribute to Dennis Syrett on being elected President of the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI)
Pat Syrett followed this up with the following personal profile of her husband Dennis which was published in Hallmark in 2010.
"When Dennis first moved into Lacey Green in 1980, local residents probably remembered him as the one-time Wycombe Wanderers' goalkeeper, a man with a passion for football and a distinguished and fulfilling amateur career behind him.
To fill the void after retiring from soccer in the late 60's he looked for a new and challenging hobby. Painting in which he had always had an interest, seemed an obvious choice. Thus, by the time he arrived in Lacey Green a decade or so of intense application later, painting had become as big an obsession as football once had been.
His first major success was to have work accepted for the RA Summer Exhibition in 1970. This was followed by the Gold Medal Award at the Paris Salon in 1975; and as Dennis himself says "From then on, doors opened on all sides."
His colourful, no-nonsense figurative work brought him election to some of the leading British Art Societies, including the prestigious Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI), of which he was deeply honoured to become president in 2004.
Now retired from this position, Dennis continues with his busy painting schedule and remains a very active member of the Institute. He will be involved with a number of workshops that the ROI will be presenting this year and also demonstrates regularly at the popular Art Event Evening during the ROI's Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries. This is a unique event when, numbers permitting, anyone can 'have a go' and paint alongside he professionals.
Dennis is always the enthusiast. "Whatever your standard, take out your brushes and have a go. Join your local art group. Make some interesting new friends. You just never know where your painting will take you." Pat Syrett
Click Graham Cottage 2 new build for their home