A tribute to Dennis Ingemann
By Clinton Moore, 9 April 2022
In the lead-up to EAROPH Australia’s 2022 Annual General Meeting, its first ever without our dear friend and colleague Dennis Ingemann, Executive Committee member Clinton Moore reflects upon what Dennis meant to him and EAROPH Australia.
The first time I properly met Dennis was in Newcastle in April 2018. The EAROPH Australia AGM was being held in the city for the first time, and I had been invited by Mia, then the organisation’s Vice-President, to come up.
A few months earlier, I had met Mia by chance at World Urban Forum 9 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In an auditorium of more than 2,000 people, I happened to sit next to two Australians. Serendipity, chance, luck, fate, and all that I suppose.
In Newcastle, Dennis, Mia, and I stayed at the same hotel. We bonded on the first day whilst looking for dinner and whilst the city was pleasant, our meal that night was comically atrocious which became an ongoing and humourous in-joke over the years.
It was that night in which I was introduced to some of Dennis’ most enduring and loved qualities – his humour, his worldliness, his love of food, his mentorship, his treasure trove of experiences and insights, and his ability to see right through a fake. He wasn’t into cliches or plaudits. He seemed to have lived everywhere and known everyone. He was a champion of giving opportunities to younger planners and sustainability professionals. His knowledge of EAROPH was unrivalled.
Most of all, and as I came to know, Dennis was a humanitarian that only wanted the best for people and their cities. That’s why he loved EAROPH so much. As well as, of course, the culture, food, and places that Dennis loved to experience whilst representing the organisation.
Over the years, Dennis and I would trade phone conversations or the occasional meal in town in Melbourne. When COVID-19 hit Australia in early 2020, it meant the cessation of in-person activities. EAROPH Australia’s planned in-person activities likewise disappeared down a black hole, sadly meaning that all of us had few chances to meet Dennis in-person in his final years.
I remember the last (virtual, unfortunately) EAROPH meeting in which Dennis attended and announced his resignation from the ExCo. He was offered many kind and celebratory words of praise for his service to the organisation, but in Dennis’ true style, he wanted none of it and told us to stop saying such things! Lockdowns and restrictions robbed Dennis of the great send-off from EAROPH he deserved.
In mid-2021, I moved to Bangkok for a position with UN-Habitat. I am forever grateful that before I left I was able to visit Dennis in his warm Mt Macedon home one final time before his passing. We chatted about all things EAROPH and life, and I marvelled at the assortment of photos, artefacts, memories and stories around his house.
Dennis, what can I say? All I can say is thank you, my friend. Thank you for the belief in me and giving me the privilege to be a part of your life, if only for a few years. You were always honest with me and I could have listened to you for days. It’s not easy to find mentors like you. I will dearly miss our conversations about life, work, cities, travel, culture, and everything. If you ever read this you would swat away the plaudits and just tell us to get on with things.
EAROPH and EAROPH Australia are poorer organisations without the wisdom and presence of Dennis Ingemann. I am sure that the organisation will be able to honour Dennis’ memory and legacy in some meaningful and impactful way.
Vale Dennis Ingemann.
By Clinton Moore, 9 April 2022
In the lead-up to EAROPH Australia’s 2022 Annual General Meeting, its first ever without our dear friend and colleague Dennis Ingemann, Executive Committee member Clinton Moore reflects upon what Dennis meant to him and EAROPH Australia.
The first time I properly met Dennis was in Newcastle in April 2018. The EAROPH Australia AGM was being held in the city for the first time, and I had been invited by Mia, then the organisation’s Vice-President, to come up.
A few months earlier, I had met Mia by chance at World Urban Forum 9 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In an auditorium of more than 2,000 people, I happened to sit next to two Australians. Serendipity, chance, luck, fate, and all that I suppose.
In Newcastle, Dennis, Mia, and I stayed at the same hotel. We bonded on the first day whilst looking for dinner and whilst the city was pleasant, our meal that night was comically atrocious which became an ongoing and humourous in-joke over the years.
It was that night in which I was introduced to some of Dennis’ most enduring and loved qualities – his humour, his worldliness, his love of food, his mentorship, his treasure trove of experiences and insights, and his ability to see right through a fake. He wasn’t into cliches or plaudits. He seemed to have lived everywhere and known everyone. He was a champion of giving opportunities to younger planners and sustainability professionals. His knowledge of EAROPH was unrivalled.
Most of all, and as I came to know, Dennis was a humanitarian that only wanted the best for people and their cities. That’s why he loved EAROPH so much. As well as, of course, the culture, food, and places that Dennis loved to experience whilst representing the organisation.
Over the years, Dennis and I would trade phone conversations or the occasional meal in town in Melbourne. When COVID-19 hit Australia in early 2020, it meant the cessation of in-person activities. EAROPH Australia’s planned in-person activities likewise disappeared down a black hole, sadly meaning that all of us had few chances to meet Dennis in-person in his final years.
I remember the last (virtual, unfortunately) EAROPH meeting in which Dennis attended and announced his resignation from the ExCo. He was offered many kind and celebratory words of praise for his service to the organisation, but in Dennis’ true style, he wanted none of it and told us to stop saying such things! Lockdowns and restrictions robbed Dennis of the great send-off from EAROPH he deserved.
In mid-2021, I moved to Bangkok for a position with UN-Habitat. I am forever grateful that before I left I was able to visit Dennis in his warm Mt Macedon home one final time before his passing. We chatted about all things EAROPH and life, and I marvelled at the assortment of photos, artefacts, memories and stories around his house.
Dennis, what can I say? All I can say is thank you, my friend. Thank you for the belief in me and giving me the privilege to be a part of your life, if only for a few years. You were always honest with me and I could have listened to you for days. It’s not easy to find mentors like you. I will dearly miss our conversations about life, work, cities, travel, culture, and everything. If you ever read this you would swat away the plaudits and just tell us to get on with things.
EAROPH and EAROPH Australia are poorer organisations without the wisdom and presence of Dennis Ingemann. I am sure that the organisation will be able to honour Dennis’ memory and legacy in some meaningful and impactful way.
Vale Dennis Ingemann.
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EAROPH Australia is the Australian Chapter of the Eastern Regional Organisation for Planning and Human Settlements
EAROPH Australia is the Australian Chapter of the Eastern Regional Organisation for Planning and Human Settlements