Charles Vaucrosson, the lawyer who turned his experience in prison into an opportunity to help others died on Saturday morning at the age of 71.

Having suffered with his health for years, Mr. Vaucrosson had a heart attack several weeks ago and was airlifted by Medivac to Boston, his wife Margaret at his side.

A pillar of Bermudian society from the early 1960s until he died, Mr. Vaucrosson did not let his prison experience in 1995 destroy his spirit.

In a interview in December 1996, he said his time behind bars gave him an insight into the prison system from the inside. Something which helped him help others through the Prison Fellowship Programme.

A close friend to the family, Quinton Edness last night was shocked to hear of Mr. Vaucrosson?s death.

?I think his death was premature because he was still a reasonably a young man,? he said.

Mr. Edness considered Mr. Vaucrosson to be a ?mate? and said he was a wonderful, jovial and friendly person who loved people.

Remembering times that they shared each others? company, Mr. Edness said Mr. Vaucrosson was always able to make him laugh ? despite what he had been through in his life.

?He was a family man first and foremost and loved his country,? he said.

A UBP supporter, Mr. Vaucrosson once ran for office and last night Shadow Minister of Labour, Home Affairs and Public Safety, Maxwell Burgess said he remembered Mr. Vaucrosson when he served as president of the Pembroke Hamilton Club in the 1970s.

?Charles certainly had a law practice that did well and yes, he had his personal challenges, but it would not be fair of me to allow those to overshadow the contributions he made,? he said, adding that ?those without sin cast the first stone?.

He said he would always remember him as the man who gave so freely of his time to PHC and the Lions Club.

Mr. Vaucrosson was the first black member of the Lions Club in Bermuda, as well as its first black president, something his wife Margaret last night said caused quite a stir in those days.

?Despite what anyone says, Charles always thought of himself as black,? she said.

Following in his father Arnold Vaucrosson?s footsteps, he returned to the Island from England as a young Barrister at the age of 28 and opened what would later become, a leading legal practice.

By the early 1990s Vaucrosson?s law firm employed ten lawyers including former Senior Magistrate Edward King, Julian Hall, Delroy Duncan, Perry Trott and Patricia Harvey.

Vaucrosson?s legal success not withstanding, Mr. Vaucrosson even set up the Bermuda National Bank and ZFB Radio and TV in the 60s and 70s with Montague Sheppard. The bank?s assets later sold to the Bank of Butterfield.

He was also a keen bridge player and represented Bermuda in World Bridge tournaments, but was also past president of the Bermuda Bar Association, Bermuda Business Association, an acting Magistrate in 1965 as well chairman of the hospitals board from 1982-83.

Mr. Burgess said he believed Mr. Vaucrosson felt he owed it to his country to give back as much as he could and considered him a ?trailblazer? in many ways. ?I won?t forget his love of his country and his ability to contribute where he could,? Mr. Burgess said.

The Vaucrosson children, Randy, Andrew, Norma and Melanie did well, he said because ?they had a father who taught them that life was about giving back to society.?

?You only need to look at his children to see Charles for who he was,? he said, ?I say my fondest farewell my friend, may God be kind to you.?

Mrs. Vaucrosson added that more than anything her husband was a family man who adored his children and 12 grandchildren.

She said the PHC club was fundamental in her husbands? life and because his father died when he was only nine, he felt the need for male guidance ? something PHC provided.

Mrs. Vaucrosson said her husbands? health began to fail in the 1990s and suffered several heart attacks.

?That?s when the doctors told him to do something less stressful,? she said. He opted on debt collection because his practice was ?finished? in 1995 and he was owned a lot of money. ?He was so good at collecting, that others asked him to help them, so he did,? she said.

A memorial service for Mr. Vaucrosson will be announced at a later date.