An accounting executive with a love of sport became a coach and mentor to young golfers on the island.

Douglas Tufts, who hailed from Welland in Ontario, Canada, came to Bermuda in 1970 and quickly made the island his home.

Mr Tufts grew up immersed in sports, from ice hockey to baseball, track and field, bowling and basketball, but golf was a standout.

He was also a keen softball player, beginning with fast-pitch and then slow-pitch.

As an accountant, Mr Tufts started out at the firm Dunwoody Accounting in Welland — but a newspaper advertisement for a job in Bermuda would change the course of his life.

He took a job at Harrington & Partners and soon met Jennifer Cummings, a nurse from England, while playing badminton.

The couple married in 1972 and had two children, Adam and Sarah.

Mr Tufts had many passions, from theatre and card games to horse racing and off-track betting but his love of people meant that clients, colleagues and sports competitors became good friends.

Jim Ferguson, who counted Mr Tufts as his best friend, called him a “warrior” when it came to sports.

He served as president of Belmont Golf Club and devoted long hours to developing young golfers after taking over the Junior Golf Programme, which he also served as president.

Mr Ferguson recalled: “This involved not just instruction on how to hit a ball but how to act responsibly, learn the rules of golf, dress appropriately and how to conduct themselves on a golf course.

“Many of those kids went on to overseas tournaments, to golf schools, to secure golf scholarships, to play in the world junior championships in Chicago and Massachusetts, and lots just learnt how to play.”

Mr Tufts was a driving force for the Atlantic Junior Championships, which hosted an array of junior golfers from overseas. He also coached basketball.

Mr Ferguson said his friend put together a formidable softball team with accounting colleagues and friends that could regularly be found at Bernard Park and became “a Bermuda championship team on a number of occasions”.

He added: “Jenny was there in the stands, cheering us on.

“Doug loved to win. It was enough to keep the smiles on everyone’s faces — the beer and pizza at Robin Hood and the trash talk made it all worthwhile.”

Mr Tufts became vice-president at Harrington & Partners.

He moved on to Deloitte & Touche before returning to the firm and later worked at Anfossi Management, where he continued to work until his passing.

Mr Ferguson recalled working with Mr Tufts when Anfossi opened a consulting arm to the business.

“Probably my biggest challenge was introducing Doug to the world of computers,” he said.

“I failed at that miserably. Doug continued to walk across to the bank with handwritten deposit slips — it worked for him.”

Mr Ferguson said his friend’s life revolved around family and games that ranged from “competitive and not so competitive — as long as his friends were ready to play, Doug was happy”.

Mr Tufts also enjoyed theatre and singing. He took part in the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society as well as the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Bermuda.

A family tribute said: “Cody Robinson, his grandson, was born in 2004 and Doug took him under his wing as mentor and devoted grandfather.

“He was passionately involved and supportive of him in all of his sports and endeavours, whether he assisted with coaching his teams or celebrating his achievements.

“His greatest passion was his immediate and extended family in Canada and the UK.

“This life of passion ended too quickly due to a cancer battle he could not win but that passion will live on through our love for him.”

Today would have marked Mr Tufts’s 79th birthday. His family asked for loved ones to make donations to the charity Pals in his honour.

Douglas Murray Tufts, accountant and golf coach, was born on April 22, 1946. He died on January 28, 2025, aged 78