with his much beloved wife Louise it will mark the end of a golden era of Bermuda's success. At a crucial time in her development, Bermuda produced a number of extraordinary men who nurtured her in a way that both developed her potential and protected her style. Sir Henry Vesey was a giant among those men.

His contribution to Bermuda and his very long service was so great in both quantity and quality that it is difficult to describe.

Nathaniel Henry Peniston Vesey was first a gentleman, quiet, soft spoken, even handed and devoted to his churches, yet determined. He took charge of Bermuda's tourism in the very difficult days after the Second World War when everything from Bermuda's image to its hotels had to be rebuilt. The task would have daunted a lesser man. Yet Bermudians understood that with Sir Henry in control, tourism was going to go well and Bermuda was going to be cared for.

It would have been very easy in the late 1940s to allow investors to tear Bermuda wide open, to exploit the environment and to degrade the Country for quick US dollars. But Henry Vesey loved Bermuda and he understood the need to expand tourism and provide Bermudians with a good living while protecting Bermuda's quality image and its environment. In Sir Henry's time the Trade Development Board was the outspoken leader in protecting Bermuda. Just as he presided over the high quality of the H.A.&E. Smith interests, the department store and the hotels, he made every effort to maintain his Country as a quality visitor destination. With the help of a highly talented and energetic civil servant, Mr. W. James Williams who had a very similar vision for Bermuda, Sir Henry succeeded beyond measure. In a great many ways we have Sir Henry to thank for the fact that visitors still see Bermuda as the best of the islands.

Sir Henry Vesey was a private family man, yet he travelled and entertained extensively on behalf of Bermuda, often at no expense to the public purse. He did it all because he loved Bermuda and he was not much interested in personal publicity or public praise. He served because service to his Country was the right thing to do. Throughout, he nurtured his parliamentary district, Smith's Parish, and dedicated his time to his family, his church and to his constituents. Today some of that sounds a bit old fashioned, but it is really the essence of a well rounded public figure. Bermuda may never see his like again.

As Sir David Gibbons, who succeeded him as Chairman of the Bank of N.T.

Butterfield, said in a tribute to Sir Henry: "Bermuda owes him a huge debt ... There is no doubt he was one of the giants... A great Bermuda statesman.''