FAMILY, friends and fellow officers and men of the Bermuda Regiment filled St. Paul's Parish Church in Paget on Tuesday to celebrate the life and pay last respects to retired Major Thomas William Godet, of Seven Wells, that distinctive landmark on the North Shore Road in Devonshire.

His death at age 50, on Armistice Day, of all days for a soldier, removed a most intriguing personality, who was unique as much for his kindness as for his eccentricities, his stubbornness and for his aptitude to make contrariness a virtue.

His chief mourners at the memorial service were his wife Nan, a librarian; his 92-year-old mother Mary, and his sister Mary, also known as Mrs. Molly Godet Thomas. She was a model and dancer before leaving for art school and life in England.

Major Godet's deceased father was Thomas Martin Du Bois Godet, a well-known surveyor who was prominent in Freemasonry circles. And the latter's father was the Godet of the firm Godet & Young, a long line of ship owners and merchants.

Lawyer and Member of Parliament Trevor Moniz rendered the eulogy at the memorial service. He said he first met Tommy, or TW as he was called, at Saltus Grammar School in the 1960s. "He was always different and stood out, being very tall and angular, wearing spectacles from an early age."

Noting that "apples don't fall far from the tree", he added that Tommy, like his father, had a great affinity for science and engineering, and like his father he did things his way.

"Many of us remember old Thomas with all his surveying equipment crammed into his ancient Hillman car and later Singer Vogue station wagon held together by pop rivets. The Transport Control Board wouldn't let him have a van, and he was in a running battle with the evil forces of bureaucracy at the TCD as well as with the Planning Board about his rambling folly of a dock."

The dock began "deconstructing" from the ravages of Hurricane Emily in 1987, but it was the focal point for some great adventures and dock parties for the youth growing up, Mr. Moniz recalled.

He went on to describe how Tommy's carefully nurtured determination to lie in an eccentric orbit gained him nicknames like Space Godet and Major Tom from the David Bowie song.

The close friendship between the two carried over to London, where they both studied. There the deceased worked in silversmithing and driving lorries. He joined the British Territorial Army, served for several years, gaining his wings for parachute jumping.

On his return to Bermuda in 1978 Tommy joined the Bermuda Regiment. He served in many capacities, sometimes wearing dress uniforms in parades and sometimes out of sight as Gun Safety Officer firing the cannon for salutes. He reached the rank of Major before being given a specialist commission for the reserves. Major Godet was dined out in July 2002 after service with the Regiment that lasted more than 20 years.

Mr. Moniz said: "The Regiment, as it does for many men, gave some form and shape to Tommy's life and gave him a sense of accomplishment and contribution to the community. Like so many, he loved the adventures of the Regiment in Carolina and Jamaica."

Tommy met Nan Hayes Huseby through introduction of Dr. Edward Harris, Director of the Bermuda Maritime Museum, were she was on staff. They were married on July 14, 1988. Mr. Moniz said she stood by her husband like a Trojan, during the course of his rare illness, Wilson's Disease, a genetic inability to cleanse copper from tissues, which unknown to family, went undiagnosed until it was too late.

Canon John Diehl conducted the memorial service and committal at St. Paul's. Following the interment, family and friends joined at a reception at Newstead.