We love you , Dennis, and will remember you always.    We miss you very much ..  Our love, Avis and John

We are so sorry for your loss. Dennis will be deeply missed, sending you our love and keeping you in our hearts.

Dennis was a great man--his sense of humor was amazing.  I will never forgot the time he and my husband entered a tennis tournament while visiting friends in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.  They won the tournament!!!  His spirit lives on in our memories and hearts.  Love and condolences to Sylvia!
Kathy and David Nave

I admired Dennis’ ability and love for knowing other languages. I was surprised one day when he talked to me in Spanish, he had perfect pronunciation. I met him in French class. We all enjoyed his participation and the enthusiasm he brought to the class. My husband got to know him and we appreciated his friendship very much. Adios querido amigo! Que Dieu te beni!

Dennis was an avid tennis player. He was the unicorn. Who do you Know would have a sr. Support anajyst, Opera singer, and 4 star Chef On a court.. He was a great organizers and passionate.

It was with great sadness that my wife, Kay, and I learned that our dear friend Dennis Reising had passed away. In what was a typical connection with Dennis, we learned about his death from our young friend, Miro Nikolov. Miro is a brilliant Humanist: born in Bulgaria, educated in the US and a graduate of the Sorbonne. He’s the translator of his father’s magnificent poetry (the well-known Bulgarian poet Lyubo Nikolov), and Miro works as a practicing attorney, and he is a terrific tennis player! Dennis was proud to be his friend. He–like so many others–was part of Dennis’s tennis world. I make this point because to understand the wonderfully variegated fabric and texture of Dennis’s life, you must see it through the lens of his tennis world.

Dennis never met a stranger. And as soon as he found out you were a tennis player, you were invited to play. The communities involved in the tennis games in his local Blueberry Hill Park were like a meeting of the United Nations. Every race, creed, and background were always welcome. These tennis events featured both people of character, and characters! His curated “cast of characters” included: teachers, laborers, lawyers, bankers, investment consultants, poets, tradesmen, opera singers, independent business owners, ministers, trust fund kids, scientists, students, retirees, you name it! And occasionally there would be women who would play in the Dennis Tennis World: and let me tell you, those girls could play!  Like the greats–the immortals–Dennis did not have a nickname: he was always simply known as Dennis! My son, Nick, now a tennis pro was raised on those courts with Dennis as the presiding dean. I remember once Dennis leaving a message on my answering machine, delighted that Nick had almost  beaten him in a singles match, even though Nick was still a young teenager. In his inimitable style Dennis happily said, “Nick came within a gnat’s ass of beating me today.” Because of his experiences on those courts, soon Nick was beating all of us. No one was more proud than Dennis.

What was most endearing about Dennis is that he truly lived in the moment. He was a red-blooded American male from the great Midwest (of which he was fiercely proud), and loved sports, traveling, great food, great Art (few people know Dennis had a great love of Art), great books, Jazz, and beautiful women! He also had a wonderful sense of humor and loved to laugh–often at himself, which was another endearing quality. 

It must be said that Dennis was an excellent, exceptional tennis player. He had a very unique compact swing and hit what our friend, Charles, called, “that nasty flat ball! ” It was a deep, penetrating shot that came low over the net and stayed low to the ground. I think he developed this style of play growing up on the fast asphalt courts of Nebraska–not exactly the finest of surfaces for tennis. The reality is that Dennis had a wonderful all-court game and had the best overhead backhand volley I’ve ever seen for an amateur. (That’s often considered the most difficult shot in tennis.)

Dennis also taught us some real “tennis styling!” He always brought out comfortable lawn chairs for our relaxation during changeovers and always had a cooler or thermos with cool beverages. Following his example, Kay and I always go on the court prepared à la Dennis!

I think tennis suited Dennis so spectacularly well because it forces the player to always be in the moment, there’s no clock and in a way it’s timeless. Some of our happiest times were had stepping into our timeless space of the tennis courts in Blueberry Hill Park and just playing! How wonderful to be an adult and just play ball with your friends! One of Dennis’s strengths as a player was his great return of serve. A special delight was to occasionally get a hard serve past him and have him exclaim, “Ah, that’s just a great serve!” It took a great serve to get it past him.

Above all, Dennis was a damn good friend–the “call in the middle of the night” type of friend. My most cherished memory of Dennis was the first tennis outing I had after emergency triple bypass surgery. After weeks of cardio-rehab, I was finally allowed to resume playing tennis. My first outing was with Dennis–just the two of us. Before we played, Dennis softly told me that he was so grateful that I was OK and that he had been very worried about me. He then said, “I think we should pray and thank God that you’re OK!” Standing at the net, we held hands and Dennis offered an earnest prayer of thanks to God that I had survived what most certainly could have been a fatal event. He then respected me enough to throw himself into trying to whip my ass! I don’t remember anything about that match (Kay calls it “anesthesia brain”), other than how exciting it was to be out playing the wonderful game of tennis again with my friend, Dennis. I do remember–acutely–what the emotional reality of the final score was: Love-Love!

My dear friend, you have stepped into the eternal light where all games, where everything is now LOVE! There is no more, “game, set, match,” just never-ending Joy! Amen!

Harry N. Dunstan, Ph.D.

Dennis was my friend's neighbor. Growing up, we would often play doubles tennis matches with Dennis.He was such a nice man and a good tennis player. Rest in peace Dennis, hit those lobs high in Heaven!

AVIS DE DÉCÈS

Dennis Gilbert Reising

28 juin 1941 – 29 mars 2025

DeVol Funeral Home

Montrez votre soutien

Envoyez Vos
Condoléances

Partager
L'avis De Décès

Obtenir les mises à jour

Prestations de Service