Harold Wayne Dennis, 93 years old, of Carrollton, TX, passed away peacefully, on August 4, 2024, surrounded by his family.

Harold was born in Farmers Branch, TX, on September 14, 1930, to Willie Emerson Dennis and Mabel Etta Hamm. He had one older sister, Eunice Dennis Tafelski. For most of Harold's childhood, his family lived on a farm where they grew vegetables and raised animals. He loved to reminisce about those days and often said, "Living on a farm during the early parts of the 1930s was hard, but it was a good life." He grew up attending schools in the Carrollton-Farmers Branch area and graduated from Carrollton High School in 1947 at age 16.

Harold married the love of his life, Betty Lou Stanley, on October 1, 1949. They went on to have 4 daughters - Suzanne, Sherry, Linda, and Kay.

Harold signed up for the Navy Reserves in the early 1950s and was drafted to go into the Army on January 9, 1953. He attended basic training at Fort Eustis, Virginia. He then went to Fort Sill in Oklahoma to attend Helicopter Mechanics School. After completing this training, he was transferred to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where he was assigned to the 509th Helicopter Transportation Company, which was the first helicopter company in the Army. During his time at Fort Bragg, Harold was part of the crew for the following helicopters: H-13 Bell, Hiller, H-19 Plasacki, and H-21 Plasacki. He was honorably discharged from the Army on January 8, 1955.

Harold worked as a Dallas County Deputy Sheriff from January 26, 1955 to October 31, 1986. He was one of the founding members of the Dallas County Sheriff's Association, and received numerous recognitions and awards for his lifelong service and dedication to the department and other local law enforcement agencies. Sergeant Harold Dennis worked at the department's shooting range for half of his career in the Sheriff's Office. He was promoted to supervisor of the range in 1975 and cherished his work as Rangemaster all those years. No one could outshoot Sergeant Dennis, so they truly were learning from the best. After retiring from the Dallas County Sheriff's Department, he worked as a Dallas County Chief Deputy Constable at Precinct 3 from 1987-1988.

Harold and Betty Lou were members of the Peters Colony Historical Society. They shared so many of their memories from growing up in the area to contribute to the historical documents of the Farmers Branch area. Harold was the best at telling stories from previous times in his life and always captivated the attention of anyone who would listen.

Harold was preceded in death by the love of his life, wife Betty Lou Dennis, parents Emmer and Mabel Dennis, and sister Eunice Tafelski. He is survived by his daughters and their significant others, Suzanne Willard and Clayton Pursley, Sherry and Carl Shields, Linda and Dorn Brinkman, and Kay and Tim Adamo, 10 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren with another on the way, 4 nieces, his sister-in-law Donnie, and many cousins.

Harold was a light to everyone he met and was greatly loved by so many. He will be dearly missed. The viewing is Wednesday, August 14, 2024 from 5-7pm at North Dallas Funeral Home: Farmers Branch in Dallas, TX. The funeral is Thursday, August 15, 2024 at 10 AM at Northside Baptist Church in Carrollton, TX with graveside to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Harold's name to Northside Baptist Church in Carrollton, TX.