Miss Lois Perinchief has been a woman in business for half a century. Next year will mark her 50th anniversary as an east end retailer.

She returned to Bermuda in 1946 from Canada, the year after a bloodied global community stepped back in horror from the Second World War, and pledged itself to peace and goodwill among nations.

She had just graduated from Central Technical School in Toronto as a horologist, a craftswoman of watch parts.

"I wanted to open a jewellery business and sell watches. But I felt that if you sell watches, you should be able to repair them.

"In those days, you couldn't just go and buy parts for watches like you can today, so you had to learn to make the parts. If a part broke, you had to make a replacement part.'' She arrived in Bermuda at the tender age of 20, brimming with the desire to just get on with it. She opened her shop on York Street in St. George's, where it remains today, although with a somewhat larger presence.

"They were exciting times. I was the only woman in Bermuda doing anything like that. As a matter of fact, when I studied in Canada I was the first. The second woman student didn't come along until at least a year after me.'' Bermudians of her genre remember "The War'' as a time of much activity, including "black-outs'' that could more than rival any problems experienced by today's Bermuda Electric light Company.

In those days, "black-outs'' were deliberate. Residents were constantly warned to cover their windows at night, lest German submarines prowling the Atlantic waters should focus on lights in the distance as targets for their torpedoes.

But for Miss Perinchief, she only knew of that lifestyle second hand. She spent the entire war in Canada, where she admitted the conflict was somewhat removed from her everyday life.

Miss Perinchief was a pioneer for women and for blacks in post-war Bermuda business. And while she understands its significance, she doesn't really dwell on it. Nevertheless, we were persistent in asking her to discuss it.

She reflected, "Let's face it, in those days, blacks couldn't go here, couldn't go there. You didn't have the freedom of movement. But you had to deal with it, like you dealt with everything else in life. You must always do what you feel you can do and if you can fight against these things, you try your best to, but in a decent way...without being nasty about it.

"If somebody else wants to be nasty, let them be. But you try to do things in the right way, until things do get right.'' Good Christian ethics. Turn the other cheek. Well, you can't always do that.

Some things just wouldn't be tolerated.

"In those days I liked to play tennis. W.E.R. Joell and I had to fight to play on the tennis courts at the tennis stadium. Blacks were not allowed to play there at that time. Darn right, it was a major fight we had about that.

"Coming back from Canada, where race wasn't an issue, or at least I didn't notice it. I went everywhere and did what I wanted to do and didn't have the problem of being stopped from going places because of my race. And then the minute you come home, you're faced with all of this.

"It was the same thing with my brother (William Robinson Perinchief). He was in the British army, in the Royal Artillery and fought over in Dunkirk and was wounded. He then comes home and they tell him he can't go here, he can't go there, he can't do this and he can't do that.

"It was very frustrating. But you have to take it in stride. There was no choice.'' Against such a back-drop, a determined woman with backing from her family, opened a business in direct competition with Astwood Dickinson's, an established company. She spent time developing a line of watches and striving for the best possible service.

It didn't take long before people, black people in particular, were coming from as far away as Sandys parish to buy a watch from Perinchief's of Bermuda.

But with her customers, at least for her, there were no black and white issues.

She conceded, "I hate to talk in such terms. People should just treat people as people. I don't think in terms of race, because it doesn't solve any problems. Let's face it, we are all different shades. We need to start thinking about Bermudians, period.'' She always tried to look at things in terms of business. She was a business woman...had wanted to be nothing else for as long as she could remember. And although she set up shop quietly, competition took notice.

She began to expand the business around 1952, developing furniture lines, souvenirs, gifts, straw goods and other products. After her brother died young, she found increasing comfort in her friendship with Ms Madeline Fox, Perinchief heads for her half century From Page 13 for her in 1952, and is still with her today.

"I have to commend her for standing by me for 43 long years. That is a strong record of continuous hard work. I depended on her to run the business, when I was not there. She took care of everything, which helped me to pursue the other things in the community I was interested in.'' She was using all of her education to be competitive, even education experienced as a young Somerset school girl who won her way to Berkeley Institute.

As Deputy Mayor of the Town of St. George's for the last half a dozen years, the 68-year old has come a long way since then. We asked her about some of the difficulties St. George's merchants have faced over the years.

As the unofficial dean of Town Square, Miss Perinchief sees merchants there in direct competition with their bigger Hamilton cousins. She's personally seen how City merchants have stolen product lines from St. George's retailers because they were able to convince distributors that they can guarantee wider distribution.

"St. George's was the cruise ship port in those days,'' she recollected.

"Hamilton was not interested in cruise ships at that time, because they did not think that they could make any money out of them.

"Hamilton was only interested in cargo ships, because they made money off of the cargo and they made money off the ships being docked there. The cruise ships just brought people in for a day or two days and Hamilton figured tourists were not spending that much money.

"But the cruise ships were what helped me to begin to expand, making money off cruise ship passengers. I was finding out what they wanted. That's how I began understanding what to import.'' In the 1950s, Perinchief's was importing from Germany, France, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Switzerland and England.

Her work in the East End Chamber of Commerce at that time included at one point a regular solo visit to the docks to meet tourists wondering off the ships with a lot of questions and no one there to greet them. She single-handedly became the unofficial welcoming committee.

Miss Perinchief also served on the Chamber executive in Hamilton, where then president, Mr. Jack Davis, remarked that she rarely spoke, but when she did, it was worth listening to, because he knew it would be important.

As a Common Councillor back in the 1960s, the issues were to try to get more visitors into The Olde Towne. It is amazing how issues almost a half a century later are much the same.

She still thinks that the long-floated idea of a ferry connecting St. George's and Hamilton should be pursued.

The town has had money problems for a lot of years and the Government has begun to do more to help. A scheme of annual road works should provide some upgrading for the one time Island Capital over the next few years.

Miss Perinchief's St. George's town, with its historic architecture, narrow lanes and rich history would always remain a step slower than Hamilton in its pace of life. She thinks that's part of the appeal.

"If we are going to be the attraction that we can be, the Government needs to help us a lot more. Remember, we pay two taxes, a municipal tax and a land tax. It may be the same thing in Hamilton, but remember there is more money in Hamilton.'' She said that the dedicated cruise ship to the east end has substantially boosted the morale of the merchant community. It is at least a period of time that they could look forward to during slow, dreary periods like winter, especially in the absence of a strong hotel presence.

Town officials are working along with internationally-respected town planner and architect Mr. Stanley Kennedy, and others, on the town plan.

Miss Perinchief has been involved in many facets of the St. George's community. She was elected on the vestry of the historic St. Peter's Church in 1954 and is still serving today, now as a senior church warden.

She first ran for the Corporation of St. George's and was elected as a Common Councillor (the first woman and the first black) in 1967 and became a Justice of the Peace a year later.

She led women in becoming an Aldermen in 1979 and was the first woman Deputy Mayor in 1988.

1968 was also the year she became the first woman to become a director of the Bermuda National Bank, and probably the first woman director of any Bermuda bank. National was affiliated with the Bank of Nova Scotia.

She served on the Social Welfare Board from 1952 to 1971 and on the Tourism Board from 1979 to 1986.

After some experience in Canada, she tried to introduce archery as a sport in Bermuda in 1946, but she admits it was not one that readily caught on.

Still an enthusiastic swimmer in the summer at 68 years old, and a surprising pool player, her winters are generally spent preparing for the tourism season.

But she remains on the go.

Just last month Miss Perinchief, and her son, Larry (adopted), returned from a tour of Israel's Holy Land. She flew to Tel Aviv and took a bus tour through to Jerusalem, stopping at a number of places of interest.

The actual flight from New York to Paris was eventful. She said that a bird was caught in the engine and an unusual snow on the ground combined to prevent the plane from landing.

The Delta jet was turned back to Gatwick airport for re-fuelling. They eventually arrived safely in Paris and were left to make alternative arrangements to Tel Aviv.

Miss Perinchief admits to some reservations of being so driven in business that she never married. We asked if she ever regrets never taking a husband.

She responded slowly, probably a little taken aback by the personal nature of the question.

She said pensively,"In some cases, yeah. Some times yes and sometimes no. But I hear about how men are going around abusing their wives, today, and I'd say no! "But naturally, there is a part of me that feels it would be nice to have a husband.'' Her recipe for success which she would like to pass on to today's women in business is that they will have to be aggressive at certain times to ensure that their voice is heard. But never be too aggressive.

Be considerate and thought-provoking in commenting on issues, but above all: "Always,'' she said, "always remain a lady!'' SUCCESS STORY -- Miss Lois Perinchief.