Philanthropist David Barber, famed for donating millions of dollars to good causes in Bermuda, has died at the age of 92.

Mr. Barber, a former hotelier, made all his generous gifts in the name of his beloved late wife Mary. His love for his wife was so strong that one of his last wishes was to recapture the view of Hamilton Harbour from his house and have a party in her memory. Unfortunately Mr. Barber died before his wish was granted.

Mr. Barber lost the view when ACE built in front of his home. He hired architect firm Cooper and Gardner to design additions to his home that would allow him to recapture the view. Initially plans for the third floor were turned down but he appealed the decision. In 2004 he was granted permission, by the Minister of Environment Neletha Butterfield, to build the extension. His architect, John Gardner, said construction began soon after permission was granted. He added that Mr. Barber was determined to see the extension finished and throw the party he had always dreamed of in his wife's memory. "It's quite poignant that he died before it was completed," Mr Gardner said.

Among his substantial donations in recent years were $2 million to buy an air ambulance for the Island and $1 million for a cardiac diagnostic unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

Speaking to in 2004, the Welsh-born entrepreneur explained that philanthropy was a way of giving back to the Island he and Mary loved.

"We never came across a place we would rather be than Bermuda. We took four world cruises of over 100 days each, as well as shorter cruises, and while we enjoyed them all and had a wonderful time, we were always keen to get home to Bermuda because it was always our favourite place. The Island has so much beauty about it," he said.

Mr. Barber arrived in Bermuda in June 1930 two days before his 17th birthday with nothing but a little spending money his mother gave him. His brother played an instrumental role in bringing Mr. Barber to the Island.

Phillip Seaman, a designer at Cooper and Gardner, said the story of how Mr. Barber came to the Island is quite remarkable.

"In the early 20th Century David's brother was here as a soldier and David, who was then a carpenter in England, built a dovetailed box to ship him some guns," he said. "It was so well crafted and so strong that it could not be opened by customs. His brother said that he could get a job here with those skills. His brother never told him directly but told his mother. When his mother told him later he was on the next boat out. He never left."

His first job on the Island was with the Royal Engineers at Prospect, who accepted him despite his being under age. He then moved on to work in construction and retailing.

In March, 1946 he opened his first business, the Hearthstone Restaurant on Queen Street. One year later he was offered the Coral Island Club on Flatts Inlet for ?25,000 ? a deal he successfully renegotiated downward to ?22,000, and secured with a ?2,000 deposit. Needing a mortgage for the rest, Mr. Barber approached the then-Henry (Jack) Tucker (later Sir Henry), general manager of the Bank of Bermuda, for a mortgage, and was turned down flat on the grounds that the structure was dilapidated.

Undeterred, Mr. Barber approached the Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd., which approved the loan.

"So I transferred my money from the Bank of Bermuda to the Bank of Butterfield, and I've been there ever since," Mr. Barber said in 2004. "I didn't realise it then, but I had become a businessman."

With the United States Air Force (USAF) stationed at nearby Kindley Field, whose personnel were constantly seeking rental apartments and cottages, the new owner of the Coral Island Club had three cottages renovated and rented in two months, with 20 families occupying 17 apartments just six months later.

His interest in Flatts Village continued throughout his life. Mr. Gardner, of the achitect firm Cooper and Gardner, wanted to pour money into the area as late as 2002.

"One day in 2002 Mr Barber walked into the office and said that he wanted to build a bridge over Flatts inlet to make Flatts a better place," he said. "He was very fond of Flatts as he had made his big break in business life with the Coral Island Hotel. In this project he had hoped to improve the traffic flow in Flatts and was prepared to contribute $8 million in a public private partnership. Unfortunately the estimates for construction were headed towards more than double that and the dream faded.

"I cannot imagine any other client realistically considering such a proposition. He had a magical drive of a man half his life. The will to build on the eve of his 90th Birthday was nothing short of remarkable"

By 1952, Mr. Barber decided to phase out the Coral Island Hotel apartments and become a hotelier, converting other portions of the property into guest accommodation and public rooms, including a dance floor. As the USAF reduced its crews in Bermuda, switching to tourism proved a profitable move.

In 1960 Mr. Barber sold the hotel for $100,000 and two months later bought the Sunshine Laundry building, which took up the block from Front Street to Reid Street and transformed it into the 'Argus Building.' Bowing to a request from the eponymous insurance company, Mr. Barber agreed to change the name, and the 40 Thieves nightclub, Gorham Ltd. and the Knick Knack store became his tenants.

In 1964 the debt-ridden owner of the Coral Island hotel sold it back to Mr. Barber who upgraded the property to such a level that the facade was later featured on the cover of Time magazine and the Chicago Herald Tribune.

Overtures in 1969 and 1970 by Gordon Curry, president of Clydesdale Commonwealth Hotels Ltd. of Glasgow, Scotland, to purchase the hotel were initially turned down by Mr. Barber, who later changed his mind and sold it for ?480,000 on condition that Clydesdale kept the existing staff for at least a year.

In 1971 the hotelier purchased the Banana Beach Club in Warwick for ?660,000, renovating and improving it.

After his retirement, he and Mary travelled extensively. Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, Mary was a frequent visitor to Bermuda in the 1930s as the companion of a wealthy American woman, and she met her future husband at a dance at the Armoury on Reid Street in 1932. They kept in touch, and eventually married in 1937. The couple had no children, but a long and happy marriage, and Mrs Barber died in June 1996.

But Mr. Barber did not fade into the background. Indeed, he became so famous for his good deeds that in 2004 he was given the Queen's Certificate and Badge of Honour by Queen Elizabeth II.