A former manager of the Bermuda News Bureau known for his meticulous attention to detail has died.

William Breisky, 92, also a former editor for the Cape Cod Times, died on New Year's Day from complications related to Covid-19.

He moved to Bermuda in the 1960s where he worked in public relations as manager of the Bermuda News Bureau in Hamilton for eight years.

Charles Webbe, a retired journalist who worked with Mr Breisky during his time in Bermuda, said: “He was a very thorough man and a very precise editor. He was a stickler for detail.

“I learnt a lot from him because, even though I thought I was a journalist before I went there, he taught me to take the subject apart and put it back together again.”

Mr Webbe recalled one occasion when there was an American vessel in Bermuda that attracted large media attention.

Mr Webbe was assigned to attend a press conference about its visit.

He recalled: “I got to the press conference and low and behold, Bill Breisky shows up and proceeds to ask questions. That was supposed to be my job.

“When I got back to the office I told him off and he told me he was only trying to help. We resolved it.

“At the end of the day you had to appreciate that was his nature, being such a stickler. Even though it irritated me, it helped as the story improved.”

Bryan Darby, a retired journalist, also worked with Mr Breisky at the bureau.

Mr Darby said: “He edited profusely and came with very, very high standards.”

Mr Darby said he butted heads with Mr Breisky on occasion.

“We were writing for tourists in what was meant to be a colourful style putting Bermuda in its best light,” Mr Darby said. “He would take our copy, written with a certain zest, and he would say this is not right and edit it with multiple corrections.

“He was a very polished and educated man. He set standards which were obviously important.”

Mr Darby said that Mr Breisky lived in Somerset in a house owned by Colin Selley, a former director of tourism.

He said Mr Breisky’s hobby was chickens and he often had an overabundance of eggs that he would distribute around the newsroom.

Mr Breisky served as the editor-in-chief of the Cape Cod Times from 1978 to 1995.

He was remembered on Saturday as a “kind, soft-spoken man of intellect, with an innate curiosity that embraced the world”.

Breisky started out in journalism as a reporter at the Albany Times-Union, before being called up to military service at the beginning of the Korean War.

On his return, he was hired as an editor at the Saturday Evening Post in Philadelphia.

He and his wife Barbara purchased a weekly newspaper in Enfield, Connecticut, before their move to Bermuda.

After Bermuda, he returned to the US as the editor of Foster’s Daily Democrat in Dover, New Hampshire, before moving to West Barnstable and heading up the Cape Cod Times.

Peter Meyer, Cape Cod Times president and publisher, said in the paper’s obituary for Mr Breisky: "Bill was a complex editor, dedicated to serving the local community while advancing a global perspective.

“Bill didn't fit the stereotypical image of a demanding and hard-charging editor in pursuit of a story at any cost. Instead, he was always pleasant, thoughtful, and kind while still doggedly persistent in leading his team to publish an excellent community newspaper."