IEA-ETSAP Forum

She passed away peacefully in her sleep on Feb 21.

I had spent a few hours with her on Feb 10. Her body had clearly lost the battle with cancer by then, but she was clear in her head and strong in her heart – like she always was. There was no evidence of pain… just physical weakness. Her daughters and friends were doing an absolutely incredible job of supporting her. All this is just to tell you that apart from the disease, everything else around her was as good as it could be.

Her clarity, focus and humility will inspire me all my life.

For a proud lady

Dear Denise,

I feel empty

but I am very happy our paths have crossed

You worked with great dedication

without judging the How's and the Where's

but straight and frank on the What's and the Why's

Persistently searching

the essence of things

without many words

Pure and authentic in your relations

sometimes ignoring the etiquette

And only when you were tired

you couldn't see the wood for trees

You were calm before storms

you used your time

rather than consume it

I hope you enjoyed investing in people

and helping the ones that needed help

As you often did

Benjamin Franklin once said: "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”
Thank you Denise for involve me! Thank you for your guidance through my PhD. Your availability, patience and support have allowed me to overcome all my insecurities.
It was an honor to know you, and your teachings will never be forgotten.

As time goes by things unveil

We then realize what gifts the people we've met brought to us

We then understand the importance of a king encouragement on one's path

We then feel the uniqueness and great value of the fragile lives we have

Denise  received me as a visiting Phd student for 3 months at Leuven. Her encouragements, trust and affection have been very important in forming my own approach of research and our exchanges as colleagues have always been a positive addition to my thoughts. A very rigorous researcher only topped by the very kind and helpful person she was.

Relatives, colleagues and friends

I'm here to share the sadness for the loss of Denise and to convey a tribute to Denise. I do this personally, as a colleague for more than 20 years now, and on behalf of the colleagues working with MARKAL-TIMES models.

Initially Denise was a good colleague of all of us at work, focused on improving the common modelling tools. Denise was carrying the understanding of a full blood economist to a community mainly of engineers. The colleagues will remember her as a very dynamic and dedicated person who brought high level theoretical but still practical contributions to the ETSAP community.

With the years the pleasure to work with Denise became friendship. We will remember most her warmth, openness, good nature and pleasantness. On behalf of those friends – Amit, Richard, Maurizio, Socrates, Evasio, Kathleen, Maryse, Francis to mention a few – I convey the you our respect and sympathy.

I convey as well the admiration of dozens of young economists and engineers who from Denise learnt the art of modelling. Young women in particular were inspired by the strong, intelligent and hard-working woman she was. And as one of the young researchers reminded me, he learnt to put aside secondary issue to get to essential from Denise's repeating him: "Non mais ça ce n'est pas important ça!".

(on behalf of ETSAP, read at the funeral held in Brussels, Uccle Crematorium, on February 27, 2013) 

Each time I have met Denise, working in a hotel, sitting in her house, walking together in Stanford or in Brazil, eating in a nice restaurant of Brussels a few months ago, I have left her with strong feelings of fullness and of "feeling good".

When I think of her today, I feel the same, differently of course, and I will miss the moments shared with her, but what I have enjoyed with her will continue to inspire me.