One of the island’s last veterans of the Second World War was a Hamilton Parish stalwart and pastor at the Gospel Tabernacle United Holy Church.

Pastor Wilfred Steede was known for his dedication to people down on their luck or out on the streets, up until the final years of his life.

His year of birth coincided with the founding of the United Holy Church of Bermuda, where he was a leading figure.

Mr Steede went on to serve as a Royal Navy sailor on the patrol boats that kept watch over Bermuda’s shores during the war.

As a spiritual leader, Mr Steede’s work included prayer meetings for men at the Reach Out Addiction Centre at the Harbour Light rehabilitation facility after it opened in 1977.

In 1978, Gospel Tabernacle was dedicated in the Crawl community of Hamilton Parish, led by evangelists Mr Steede and Miriam Dickenson.

He was appointed leader of the church in 1984, and took on the pastorate in 1989 until his retirement in June 2000.

Mr Steede had two children with Olive, his late wife: Egbert and Rachel.

Derrick Burgess, the MP for Hamilton East, recalled Mr Steede’s gentle, always-approachable demeanour.

He added: “I played golf with him sometimes when he was up in his nineties, and I was always impressed with how he made out.

“He was a great guy and a great person who was always welcoming and there to help people.”

Mr Steede’s 100th birthday was marked in 2021 with a motorcade organised by his family.

Bishop Stephen Jones, of the United Holy Church of Bermuda, marked the occasion by praising his service as a veteran.

He added: “But the impact of his ministry and service in the island of Bermuda is also significant.

“As founding co-pastor of Gospel Tabernacle and now as Pastor Emeritus, he assisted the Bermuda District in establishing churches and ministries.

“Elder Wilfred Steede’s time and dedication over the many years will never be forgotten.”

Joseph King Jr, of the Gospel Tabernacle United Holy Church, said that Mr Steede was the “legend of the century” and “a real hero”.

He added: “He was known for spreading a message of hope and reaching down to help others up.”

Ida Burgess, his niece, called him “a man of God who loved the Lord — serving as a Christian was the most important thing to him”.

She added: “He loved his family. There was nothing he would not do for them.”

She said her uncle was an “instrumental” member of the group The Emancipations, where he played guitar and sang with “a beautiful bass voice”.

Ms Burgess said that Mr Steede could always be approached by people who were homeless or those in need of a meal, and would show compassion to all.

“He would say yes to them,” she said. “He had such a good spirit.

“If you did not have somewhere to stay, he would make sure that you found somewhere and got food, and he was 100 and doing that — that’s just the spirit he had, of love and compassion.”

• Wilfred Joseph Nathaniel Steede, a pastor at Gospel Tabernacle United Holy Church, was born on October 25, 1921. He died in August 2024, aged 102