Prominent Bermudian businessman Kirby Brackstone has died suddenly at his Paget home, of a suspected heart attack, at the age of 43.According to his wife Isabelle Ramsay-Brackstone, Mr Brackstone had became unwell on Friday at his Hamilton business, Games and Flix on Dundonald Street.“He went to sleep and died peacefully on Friday afternoon,” said Mrs Ramsay-Brackstone, adding that her husband had been in especially high spirits after his birthday two days earlier.The two became co-owners of the Bermuda Perfumery in 2004, relocating the business to St George’s. Mr Brackstone also championed the Old Town as Chairman of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce’s East End Division from 2008 to 2010.An advisor to the Chamber of Commerce’s Economics Committee, Mr Brackstone had been preparing to deliver the annual presentation to fellow members on the state of the Island’s economy.His wife last night recalled him as a man who “loved being involved in the community”, and who was deeply attached to their Church, St Michael’s in Paget — where a service will be held for him this Friday at 1pm.“My husband’s greatest legacy is his love of life,” Mrs Ramsay-Brackstone said. “He gave a father to my children, and they know that daddy’s job on Earth is done. My husband was a wonderful, spiritual man.”Along with his wife, Mr Brackstone was closely involved in St George’s Preparatory School, which eldest daughter Marie-Sophie, 11, attended, and where daughter Gabrielle, 9, and son William, 8t, continue to be schooled.Across the Island, friends and businessmen were stunned at his sudden death.“This is indeed a tremendous shock to all of us,” said Peter Everson, who worked with Mr Brackstone on the Chamber of Commerce’s Economics Committee. “Kirby had a great passion for seeing Bermuda improve as an economy and a place to live for all Bermudians.”Mr Everson recalled a man passionately driven to research the committee’s paper on public debt management, presented to Government earlier this year — a complex topic navigated in a four-page report.Said Chamber of Commerce executive director Joanne MacPhee: “Kirby was a soft-spoken man of unassuming intelligence and dignity, and he will be greatly missed by colleagues and friends.”Also dabbling in politics, Mr Kirby managed the 2007 campaign of Hamilton South MP Darius Tucker, then a United Bermuda Party candidate.“Kirby was one of the good ones,” Mr Tucker said.“He had no problem engaging with any part of the political spectrum. He was ideal for me as a first-time candidate — he was a family man who understood when I couldn’t go canvassing because I had to be with my family.”He added: “They were a bilingual household. Isabelle spoke to the children in French, and Kirby spoke to them in English.”Mr Brackstone made an unsuccessful 2009 bid for alderman on the Corporation of St George’s, but Mr Tucker remembered him as “vital in revitalising the St George’s Chamber of Commerce — he was instrumental in getting that up and running”.He was also a contender for chairman of the United Bermuda Party, again without success, in 2008.Former UBP leader Kim Swan paid tribute to a man who had been “very interested in serving the Party at a higher level”, adding: “More than that, he was a very nice person.”“He and his wife made a great contribution, particularly through business, to our tourism product in St George’s.”Businessman Kirby Brackstone capably united the business factions of St George's in the best interests of the East End.He was recalled by Cheryl Chew-Hayward, former chair of the Chamber of Commerce's East Division, which Mr Brackstone proved instrumental in reviving.In 2008, she said, with that division no longer operating, "Kirby and a group of St George's businesses came together to form the St Goerge's Business Group, representing all area businesses who wished to join efforts with them".They were particularly concerned with the decline in East End business as the Old Town lost cruise ship service.Their efforts drew the attention of the Chamber of Commerce, who asked them to resurrect the East End Division.Ms Chew-Hayward said: "Kirby stepped forward to be the first Chairman in a number of years in the East, and successfully put the East End Division back on the map."In 2010, Kirby passed the mantle to me," she said."I found Kirby to be a person dedicated to the community, who believed with inclusion and working together, St George's would be successful."Leslie Kirby Brackstone was the son of Ellen and Raymond Brackstone. Bermuda-born, he was carried by his banking work to Montreal, where he met his French Canadian wife. The two were married in 1999, and lived together in Toronto until 2003, when they came to Bermuda.Mr Brackstone worked at Butterfield Bank before embarking on his own business in 2008.His wife offered thanks for the support the family have received, especially from their Hungry Bay, Paget neighbours.“Bermuda gives so much hope,” she said. “People here at Hungry Bay have been like family to us.”