Mr Robinson, DLR, Robbo, Denis, Granddad, Uncle, Den, Dad.
Each knew him in a different way, depending on the relationship and the circumstances. But basically he remained the same person. He maintained the same qualities, ethics and standards throughout his life.
In his family, his work, his play, no matter what, Denis's high ethical and moral standards shone through, as did his love and zest for life.
He always had a twinkle in his eyes and many will have noticed that his nose was never quite straight and may have wondered how it came to be so misshapen. Suffice to say there were a number of footballing incidents that left him with his nose displaced across his face.
On one occasion, in his mid-30s, he played football in the afternoon, receiving a broken nose. He had some running repairs then returned home to oversee bonfire night. One firework failed to explode, until that is he picked it up, thereby seriously burning his fingers.
At A&E, the attractive young female doctor attending his wounds read the notes and remarked: "Denis Robinson, age 35, broken nose playing football, burned fingers playing with fireworks - my my, haven't we been a busy boy." The perfect put down.
On the sports field as well as in business, he always pushed himself to the limit to achieve his very best, to make the most of the gifts and talents he had.
He never hung back and if he set his mind to something he would see it through. One thing he always did was to look and plan ahead - he always had a goal and an outcome in mind.
Two of his many attributes were those of faithfulness and perseverance. His links with the King Edward Foundation started at the age of 11 and continued until he stepped back from public life 60 or so years later; his working life with the Wesleyan and General Assurance society, now WFS, lasted 56 years, and just two days before he celebrated 58 years of marriage.
Denis Leonard Robinson was born and brought up in Erdington, and went to the National School in the High Street. He attended the primitive Methodist Sunday school and, in 1925, aged just eight, was awarded the class prize of a hymn book.
He passed the exam to attend King Edward's Grammar School in Aston and began his lifelong relationship with the foundation of which he later became the bailiff. Two years later he won a scholarship to King Edward School where he continued to shine not only academically but also on the sports field.
On the football pitch, he and his brother Joe made a formidable pair. If someone had a go at Joe, Denis would be in there to ensure an even battle in his favour.
The brothers were so close that, together with their parents, they founded Erdington Rovers football team which had considerable success during the years they all played for or supported it.
Denis's love of football was such that not only did he play but he was also captain and referee of the Birmingham and District AFA during the 1950s and coached Aston Villa Amateurs. His sporting passions also encompassed cricket, golf and rugby - he was member of Walmley Golf Club and Moseley Rugby Football Club.
He joined the Wesleyan in the post room and over his years there worked through the ranks of the organisation to end his working life as managing director and then to continue in retirement as deputy chairman. He always put the society and its Wesleyan ethic and morality before his own personal desires and advancement.
The society took great interest in the welfare of its employees and Denis was active in all the social events as well, playing cricket, tennis, football, athletics, table tennis, bowls. whatever he could to build a team and to instil common values and working together.
During his later years as MD, he was entered for a table tennis competition. He agreed to go in to show that it was open across the business. But of course he couldn't allow management to be humiliated so, unbeknown to the rest of the staff, spent many hours practising, to the extent that he redeveloped many of his former skills and even won the trophy.
At the society he was also central in the discussion and negotiations to merge the Wesleyan and Salvation Army Assurance because he could see the benefits of the integration of their ethical values.
One of these values was the sense of fair play and equality of opportunity and reward. Only his family saw the stress and strain he was under when negotiating with the trade unions and staff associations. He was determined to ensure there was no us and them.
But he insisted on making sure that the needs of the policyholders, who were after all providing the funds for the society, came first and that the society was robust and able to withstand more difficult periods.
He spent hours reviewing possible options and, most importantly, when it came to his own remuneration would not take higher wages if that was out of line with his negotiations for the staff, they came before himself.
His tension was worked out in his garden, another of his passions, most particularly the lawn. He first laid a lawn at the age of 12 at his home in York Road and he often spoke of the care and effort that went into it. That attention to detail was one of his hallmarks and it allowed him to gain his Scouts' garden care badge of which he was proud throughout his life.
At the start of the Second World War, he joined the forces and spent his life in the Army between North Africa, Greece and Italy with the 8th Army Artillery. These were times of intense comradeship and danger about which he spoke only a little.
He was with the battery due to leapfrog to El Alamein and spoke of the sense of fear and excitement that went with each move. He learned much about leadership and motivation during his time in the forces and put this into practice back on civvy street.
He was selected for officer training corps and became an NCO but his sense of fair play and care for his troops meant that he would, on occasions, stand up for his crew against senior officers. He was also a bit of a lad and wouldn't stick to petty rules that he saw no benefit in. Hence, on more than one occasion, he lost his stripes, quite a stigma in the Army, but he fought and won them back.
At the time of his discharge he was a lieutenant. His love of sport continued in the Army and he played for the British Army overseas against a select Italian forces team.
He communicated regularly with his brother back in England and the family still has a collection of letters that he wrote. He also sent weekly correspondence back to a weekly newsletter to keep people at home informed about the plight of British troops abroad.
In the field of education, he served on the governing body at Aston and was instrumental in the 1970s of spearheading the Save Our Schools campaign to retain selective education in the city. His view was that this gave the best possible opportunity for students from less privileged backgrounds to get a quality education and to be supported during their formative years.
He continued this principle as bailiff to the foundation and sought to increase the number of scholarships available.
His other main passion in his life was family and there are enough in his family for that be a full time task. He enjoyed spending time with his children and grandchildren and even here his competitive edge showed through. Even at the age of 70 he demonstrated to younger members of the family the fine art of leaping a five-bar gate.
Denis Leonard Robinson died on August 31. He is survived by his widow, Barbara, and their five adult children.
