Former Bishop of Bermuda Christopher Luxmoore, a devoted clergyman who strove for unity in the local Anglican community, has died in England at the age of 87.

Bishop Luxmoore, who served in Bermuda from 1985 to 1989, passed away on Sunday in Chichester, West Sussex — home of the historic cathedral where, in 1984, he became the first bishop to be consecrated there.

According to his wife of nearly 60 years, Judith, Bishop Luxmoore was “very happy during our time in Bermuda”.

After returning to England, Bishop Luxmoore became Archdeacon of Lewes and Hastings before retiring in 1991. Mrs Luxmoore said her husband then served as Assistance Bishop of the Diocese of Chichester.

“A lovely man, very kind and friendly,” said former Bishop Ewen Ratteray. “He was every inch a bishop — he looked the part and he was very good to his clergy. You could go to him any time.”

Bishop Ratteray also described him as a dedicated family man with five children — Nicholas, Jonathan, Paul, Benedict and Ruth.

A lieutenant in the British Army before he was ordained in 1953, Bishop Luxmoore spent time in Calcutta, India — and the couple also lived for eight years in Trinidad.

Cathedral Warden Lawson Mapp recalled Bermuda’s eighth Bishop as a man who made strides in recruiting Bermudians.

“One of the interesting things I remember is that when we were looking for a new Canon, with Canon Peter Hartley finishing in 1985, I told him of a Bermudian working as an Episcopal priest in Cincinnati,” Mr Mapp said.

“I said, ‘He comes from Parsons Road where I come from, and has always expressed a desire to come back to Bermuda. You should take the bull by the horns, and appoint Jim Francis.’”

James Francis subsequently became the first Bermudian Canon Residentiary — an appointment which “ruffled a few feathers”, Mr Mapp said, as the church moved toward Bermudianisation.

Born in April 1926, Bishop Luxmoore later attended Trinity College, Cambridge.

He served first as curate at St John the Baptist, Newcastle, followed by the post of Priest in Charge at St Bede’s, Newsham, County Durham.

Bishop Luxmoore was then appointed Rector of Sangre Grande, Trinidad.

Before his election to the See of Bermuda in 1984, he served as Vicar of Headingley in Leeds, and as Precentor and Canon Residentiary of Chichester Cathedral.

Mr Mapp said Bishop Luxmoore, as a non-Bermudian, “had a few detractors — but he did a good job and tried to pull the diocese together, to get all working for the good of the diocese”.

Bishop Luxmoore was enthroned in Bermuda in 1985 and Mr Mapp recalled that when the couple’s flight from the UK landed — just two days before his enthronement — the new Bishop was frantic because his episcopal ring had gone missing.

“He had rested the ring down on the edge of the sink in the bathroom on the aeroplane, and then realised after he returned to his seat that he had left it behind,” Mr Mapp said. “When he went back, the ring was gone. He had approached the pilot and there was an announcement on the flight but nobody came forward with the ring.”

Since the ring was required for the ceremony, Mr Mapp scoured local jewellers to find a fitting replacement in time, and the enthronement proceeded without a hitch.

The church was central to Bishop Luxmoore’s life, Bishop Ratteray said.

“He was in the catholic tradition of the Church of England — very much a man of prayer for whom the Eucharist was a central part of life.”

Following his resignation in 1989, Bishop Luxmoore was succeeded in 1990 by William Down — the Island’s ninth Bishop.

Bishop Luxmoore battled cancer in his later years and passed away at a care home. His funeral will be held at 2.30pm on March 7, at Chichester Cathedral.