“Let’s remember him as we knew him, a gentle giant”
Dirk was born in Lagos, in Nigeria, and shortly after, his parents returned to Germany where his sister Christiane was born only 10 months later. The family moved to Accra in Ghana a few years later, where Dirk went to the Swiss primary school, after which they moved to Richmond, London. After a year at the German school, Dirk went to Hampton Grammar School, knowing no English. He was 12 but already 6ft 1½, and was – albeit briefly – bullied for all of the above.
At school he excelled at sports, languages and everything else, and met lifelong friends, Bamdad and Bill from another school. He developed an eclectic taste in music. He also mastered getting into any pub, being so tall. After getting top grade A levels, he went to Keele University for a four-year course in drinking, during which time he also got a BA in International Relations.
By now, the family had moved to Portugal, and in Monchique his parents built their dream house and a restaurant, Al Borboleta, successfully run by Jutta, Karl and Christiane over many years. Dirk would help out on his holidays.
And so started Dirk’s love affair with the Algarve for close on 30 years, throughout which he was always known as an aminal-lover, cats especially. He worked at Al Borboleta; he ran Café Tulipa in Bemposta with Christiane; he leafletted for the Chinese restaurant in Alvor, he worked in the old cork shop in Alvor, he became the most entertaining quiz master, and he became an accredited Associated Press journalist, covering mainly sporting events Algarve-wide.
He also wrote for a glossy called the GoodLife, all up until the 2008 financial crisis in Portugal. He continued to write every week for the Algarve Resident (now Portugal Resident), covering the Portimonense football team, and he’d also regularly write his “Is It Just Me” article for the Resident, which was loved by so many, because it wasn’t just him!
For about 25 years, he worked at the Hotel Praia tennis club, first with Val, then going it alone as manager, groundsman, admin and superb player. His Sunday morning tournaments were legendary. Sadly, Pestana ended his contract there in 2018, but he was immediately taken on as manager, groundsman, admin and superb player by Frank, who’d taken it over. He loved it up there and took such pride in his work, until Pestana finally took back the courts on December 31, 2024.
So, what next? Well, the Frog Bar in Alvor was looking for a new landlord, and the timing was right for Dirk, and with the invaluable assistance of Inês and Lisa, the bar was going along nicely. Especially the Friday night quiz extraordinaires: being harangued, insulted, told to “shut … up” by an on-form Dirk was pure and simple fun.
So, 2025 hadn’t been a great year for Dirk: he’d lost his job, then his mother sadly died on January 20, getting the bar going wasn’t easy and the weather was the worst for 40 years: he would say – what else can go wrong?
Then in March, he started having a few problems with his stomach, so we got an appointment for April 16, just after his birthday on April 13. The doctor immediately set up an endoscopy and colonoscopy appointment for April 23 and that was when we heard the word “oncology” first mentioned. Luckily, we had the best doctor, Magda Cordeiro, who on April 29, said he had cancerous lesions: a biopsy was required, followed by a second.
On May 13, we were told he had metastatic cancer of the stomach and intestine, going back to a skin melanoma Dirk had had removed in 2018 and which he was checked for regularly in Lisbon. Dra. Magda said immunotherapy treatment was available, by I.V. every 3 weeks, for 6 treatments, which left Dirk hopeful he’d be back playing tennis in September. However, he was in great pain, not eating, not sleeping.
So, on May 15, we went back to the hospital, where we learned he had Stage 4 melanoma cancer, but still treatable with immunotherapy, which we agreed to start in the coming week. Then, on Sunday, May 18, he had the best day for ages: he slept a bit more, made some trademark jokes, and managed to complete his very complicated Portimonense football article, which he thought he’d written well because, in his words, he was a “wordsmith”.
However, early on Monday, May 19, he suddenly couldn’t breathe properly, so we went to A&E where he was put on oxygen and morphine. After a fierce nearly 24-hour battle, Dirk died just before 1am on Tuesday, May 20. Cancer had got him, and so quickly: he recently said it had taken away everything he loved doing … playing tennis, 10-pin bowling, his quizzes, cooking, reading, eating, sleeping, were just some of them.
Let’s remember him as we knew him, a gentle giant.
By Rebecca Ann Cuddeford
