Former Royal Marine Dennis “Dan” Marshall has passed away after a short illness in hospital last week.

Mr Marshall, a 6th Dan, was a British Judo Council (BJC) stalwart for many years, and was known as “Dan” because of his judo. He spent most of his life promoting the sport in Hertfordshire and the Northern Home Counties.

For his services to teaching more than 20,000 children, Dan received the British Empire Medal (BEM) in 2012 not long after he obtained his 6th Dan in 2011 with the BJC.

He ran a club called Ovaltine, at the old factory in Kings Langley which transferred to Bennetts End in 1984.

Later he formed the “Dacorum Judo Federation” at the Leisure Centre in Hemel Hempstead, a club which also had British Judo Association (BJA) links with Dave Cox and welcomed members from both associations. He also taught jiu jitsu.

The 89-year-old leaves behind a long term partner Elizabeth. One of his students of almost 40 years, John Martin said: “He was an enormous character and contributed a lot to Judo. He was running clubs long before I met him and he set up in Dacorum one of the first non-affiliated clubs, known as Dacorum Judo Federation. It welcomed both BJA members and BJC members.”

Mr Marshall’s funeral will take place at West Herts Crematorium in Watford, Hertfordshire at 11:20am on Friday 7 March 2014.