A popular policeman who went on to head the Financial Intelligence Agency was remembered as a driven officer who delivered top service to the people of Bermuda.

Sinclair White, a former superintendent, was also a chairman of the Berkeley Educational Society from 2011 until last year.

Mr White attended the Berkeley Institute from 1963 to 1968, and joined the Bermuda Police Service at the age of 22 in 1973.

Promoted to sergeant in 1987, Mr White served as a superintendent from 2001 until he retired from the service in 2007.

Jean-Jacques Lemay, a former police commissioner, saw him as “a very capable and ambitious senior officer”, the Bermuda Ex-Police Association said.

He headed prominent investigations around the island during his career.

In a 2007 interview, Mr White told The Royal Gazette: “Nothing is unsolvable.

“If you’ve got the time, the patience, the commitment and the dedication, you can solve it.”

Mr White was appointed an honorary aide-de-camp to Sir John Swan, the former premier, in 1992, and transferred to Central Division Uniform in 1995 as acting chief inspector.

The following year he was appointed as officer in charge of the Major Incident Room and promoted to chief inspector.

In October 1996 he took over responsibility for complaints and discipline.

After retirement, he was appointed chairman of the Financial Intelligence Agency in 2008. He later served as director.

The FIA was created to evaluate suspicious activity reports and pass on cases worthy of investigation to the police.

In 2011, Mr White succeeded Austin Thomas as chairman of the Berkeley Educational Society, the governing body of the school.

The BES described him as devoted, diligent and conscientious — leading meetings in a “gentlemanly and scholarly way, with firmness but fairness”.

“Sinclair’s voice for the Berkeley Institute lives on in the film Respice Finem, in which he spoke about aspects of the society and the school’s history and legacy.

“Sinclair had a very generous spirit and would often donate anything needed for the society if he felt it would be beneficial.”

The statement added: “His memory will always be etched in the hearts of the members and fellow Berkeleyites as one who persevered even during his illness.

“May he rest in well-deserved peace.”

Craig Bridgewater, chairman, said that Mr White served with “a zeal that is not easily matched”.

“It has been my honour, and that of the entire governing body — both past and present — to have experienced Mr White’s sterling leadership and unwavering commitment to the vision of the founding fathers of the society to meaningfully support the advancement of excellence in education fitting for our students to discharge the obligations of this life regardless of race, colour or creed.”

Tributes were paid to Mr White in the House of Assembly on March 24 by Cole Simons, the Leader of the Opposition, with opposition MP Craig Cannonier and Neville Tyrrell, of the Progressive Labour Party.

• Harold Sinclair Ramsey White, a long-serving police officer and director of the Financial Intelligence Agency, was born on October 31, 1951. He died in March 2023, aged 71.