FORMER Boy's Brigade captain Dennis Hollins received a special guard of honour at his packed funeral yesterday.

The 84-year-old former engineer design draughtsman from Wolstanton, who helped put together a scale model of North Staffordshire's first computer for an international exhibition in Geneva in 1955, died at home on January 3.

His funeral was held at Wolstanton Methodist Church and attended by many former members of the 23rd North Staffordshire company Boy's Brigade, where he was captain for about 30 years.

Kendall Prosser, brigade leader, said: "We wanted to recognise the contribution Dennis made to the lives of many members. He will be remembered for his patience and humility."

In his working life, Dennis, a father-of-four with 12 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, worked at William Kent's in Burslem, Simplex Electrical Company in Blythe Bridge and English Electric in Kidsgrove.

It was there he was part of a team of engineers who made the scale model of North Staffordshire's first computer – which was one fifth the actual computer's size but still large enough to fill an average-sized kitchen.

Dennis's daughter Claudia Parker said she was amazed and proud to see a photograph of her father with the model printed in The Sentinel's The Way We Were, coincidentally printed on the day he died.

The coincidence is all the more poignant because Dennis's wife, Vera, who died in 1980, was also featured, dressed as an angel in a photograph that happened to appear in an unrelated Sentinel article the day after she died.

Claudia, aged 55, of Wolstanton, said: "We couldn't believe such an amazing coincidence happened but it is lovely to see my dad is still remembered and highly thought of.

"Dad was always busy, caring for others and always putting them before himself, whether taking out meals on wheels, offering transport to friends and family, or taking on the roll of Santa.

"When he became ill in October, his first concerns were for the people he would be letting down. He will be sadly missed but remembered with much love by many."

In later life, Dennis was well known as a local Methodist preacher, member of Audley Male Voice Choir and Orme Art Group. He was a highways inspector with Newcastle Borough Council until he retired.

Daughter Sarah Hancock, aged 39, of May Bank, said: "It was lovely to see the church packed and so many people giving tributes.

"The Boy's Brigade members said he touched so many lives and they would never forget him.

"He wasn't the sort of man to make a fuss. He was quiet and would do anything for anybody, but never shout about it. He always saw the good in everyone and was a great role model."