Denise Jeanette Ackroyd

“Posting this for my mum.. Denise babysat my sister and I and Dale, my mum, baby sat Vanessa and Lara. 40ish years later still friends and can credit Denise with leading us to the Lord. She was the most encouraging and loving friend - we miss her horribly.”

“Today we said goodbye to my beautiful long time friend Denise who passed away this morning. We have been friends since we were 12 years of age. I will miss our yearly visits when Denise visited from the Gold Coast and stayed with me in Sydney and our long talks and memories. Denise was also godmother to my daughter Kelly. We will all miss her terribly. Rest in Peace Denise 💔💔💔”

“Dear lovely Denise, You will be missed so much by everyone that had the privilege to get to know you. You always brought a colourful, happy and comforting light into the life of the people you crossed paths with. We are very sad now… But we also know and trust that we will continue to feel you present in our everyday life, with your unwavering positive vibes. Our Condolences to all your Family and dear ones. ”

“I have no words. I will miss you so much. I am glad that you are no longer in Pain and you are back with our Lord. My heart is broken. 💔”

“I am so sad at loosing my dearest friend. She was the most loyal, trustworthy, Godly women I have ever met. We spoke to each other most days and saw each other several times a week after I moved to the Resort 4 years ago. We first met at Hillsong Church in Sydney around 1989 when Vanessa and Amanda (my daughter) introduced us. They were at Galston High School together. I miss you so much, our outings and laughs. Thank God for Jesus, I will see you later 💕💕”

“Dear Nisi, You were a truly lovely lady and a very special cousin. Your kindness and goodness shone through. I know how close you were to Jesus and know you will now be in his loving arms. You will be missed very much. Condolences to your daughters, granddaughters brothers and their families🙏”

“We are all gathered either physically or remotely to honour Denise's 81 years on earth living the Christian life as she spent those decades serving God. We all know how much she loved her choice of lifestyle and her faith. It reminds me of the saying "Pentecostals make the best runners, because they already know how to finish the race with their hands raised in victory." She finished her race in difficult circumstances but today is about remembering the joy, laughter, and unshakeable faith she gifted to every single one of us. My sister was nearly 2 years older than I and from a very early age always looked out for me and not always with the best results. I remember one time, I was probably about eight and had a very bad earache. The only remedy to allay the pain, so she thought, was to pour water into my ear, so she did, quite a lot. Whilst it helped a little bit it was probably the worst thing to do, so we found out later. But that was Nisi — always there to help, ALWAYS with the best intentions. From a very early age (12) she would encourage me to go to church with her and I did. But looking back she went because even then she believed in God and the Christian life and I went for the social side of the youth meetings. I think a significant turning point for both of us was the Billy Graham Crusade in 1959 where he preached to over 3 million people throughout Australia. We went to a packed Sydney Stadium and I remember when he asked people to come forward for the Lord Denise took several minutes to get to the stage from our bleachers' seat and was blessed by Billy Graham and she gave her life to Christ. I on the other hand was not so moved and a few weeks later stopped going to church entirely. From that point on she never looked back or doubted her beliefs. You will hear many stories how Denise affected other people's lives for the better. Given comfort when needed, advice to those seeking some but most of all just a really caring person who was willing to listen. She once told me she had over 500 contacts in her phone. Denise loved her annual pilgrimage to Sydney where she had a list of 80 people to visit. Sadly her health stopped these "looked for" breaks. Growing up she always hoped and prayed for her family to believe as she did but as I remember never forced her beliefs on us. She would talk about her faith if asked but never forced it on an unwilling listener. She travelled a lot and I remember my mother getting a letter from a woman, when Nisi lived in England, who said that her daughter was the most wonderful Christian she had ever met and had saved her life. When talking about my sister to others I have always said that she was the nicest kindest, most caring person I knew and that she was a true missionary for what she believed in. Sometimes her Christian niceness was to her disadvantage. My brother and I always felt some employers took advantage of her because she would never say no, nor ask for a raise and accepted what we thought was underpayment for the job so as not to hurt the bosses' feelings. Denise was very big on family and would organise family get togethers whenever she could. Sadly over the last years she could not travel. Nisi has been in great pain for many years but never really complained as much as she could have, given her circumstances. We will miss her but have some comfort in the fact that of all the people on earth, if anyone deserved to go to Heaven it is my sister. She believed this and I am certain she was at peace with what was about to happen. God bless you Denise from Geoff, Brian and ALL of our families. Requiescat in Pace”