One of Bermuda?s most passionate environmentalists has died. Phyllis West-Harron, one of the founding members of Keep Bermuda Beautiful, died over the holiday. She was 92.

Mrs. West-Harron served as president of KBB for seven years. During her presidency she had many accomplishments, most memorable among them was her strong fight against the formation of a McDonald?s franchise in Bermuda.

In 1974 Mrs. West-Harron stood down as president of the KBB and was bestowed the title of president emeritus.

Prior to her retirement, she travelled to several countries at her own expense to learn about protecting the environment. She attended conferences in France, Ireland, England and the US.

In an interview with in 2000 Mrs. West-Harron said: ?I enjoyed my role in the KBB immensely! I always found gratification from the many members of KBB and the support from the public. The first year I was president we had 49 members and within a year that grew to 763 active members. Mrs. John Young was the membership director and she did a fine job. Back then the membership dues were two dollars.?

Explaining her powerful connection with nature and the environment, she said: ?When I was a small girl, about age five, our parents impressed upon us a love of the natural beauty of Bermuda and its many creatures. My parents cared very much about this earth and Island.?

On one occasion during Mrs. West-Harron?s presidency KBB launched an Island-wide clean-up and it was estimated that 7000 people, including the military, turned out for a highly organised shore line cleanup.

?Just about every organisation in Bermuda supported KBB in this special event. The enthusiasm was fantastic and the tonnage gathered was unbelievable! ?Friends proudly compared blisters. This was wonderful citizen involvement,? Mrs. West-Harron said. Another important project was "Clean Sweep" when KBB members and others collected trash.

?I recall that someone donated us a number of brooms, rather flimsy they were. Everyone, including myself, was being handy with a broom sweeping up debris.?

Additionally Mrs. West-Harron implemented the ?Plant a Tree Project? in 1973.

?We came up with a little rhyme: ?In ?73 plant a tree, and plant some more in ?74 and keep alive in ?75.

?I recommended to people to plant a tree to commemorate a special occasion.?

Prior to Government allocating funds for KBB Mrs. West-Harron and her committee and members raised monies through corporate funding. Most of the Front Street Stores were generous KBB patrons.

Mrs. West-Harron concluded: ?Environmentally-conscious people are important to Bermuda because we live in a very small, crowded island where every bit of green matters. Every citizen must do his/her part.?

Mrs. West-Harron played an instrumental role in preventing former Premier Sir John Swan from starting a McDonald?s franchise in Bermuda when she circulated a petition.

Mrs. West-Harron fought hard against fast food franchising in Bermuda in an attempt to protect small restaurants and stop Bermudian businesses from being taken over by a franchise.

Barry Brewer, former president of KBB, said: ?Phyllis West-Harron was a fabulous person?.

He became involved with the KBB after Mrs. West-Harron influenced him to become more environmentally aware.

?Phyllis believed in the cause,? said Mr. Brewer, ?She told me that my generation needed to get more involved with the environment, and change things.?

Mr. Brewer said Mrs. West Harron made a large impact on his life, inspiring him to take care of the environment that he lived in.

?She was always an inspiration to me, because she was always so motivated about keeping the environment clean.?