For almost half a century, Baltimore teacher Luciel (Joni) LeKites visited Bermuda every year, describing its beauty to her friends.

Now, two years after she died at the age of 88, a group of her friends and colleagues have come to her favourite island to honour her memory.

Sylvia Solomon said: “This trip started because we wanted to honour Joni. We’re all teachers and we taught with her at one time or another and remained friends for some 40 years.

“Joni always came here. Every year, right after Christmas day, and stayed through to New Years. He husband came until he died and she continued to come. She spoke about the Island to all of us and she always wanted us to come.

“She loved the beach, she loved the sun and she knew that we all love the sun and the beach so she would come back and talk about how beautiful it was. The flowers and the people.

“Unfortunately, she passed away about two years ago, just three days short of 89, so we came here this year to honour her memory. She was a mentor to all of us. We were all in the teaching profession, teaching physical education. She was very, very close to all of us and a beautiful person.”

For the last week Ms Solomon, along with Sharon Thomas, Carol Tobash, Roberta Jung, Carol Patterson and Barbara Broadbent have toured the Island, visiting all of the places she described in her trips, including Loughlands, where she first stayed with the Outerbridge family on her earliest visits.

Ms Tobash said: “Joni just made friends with them and they adopted her as part of their family when she came to Bermuda.

“Everyone from Bermuda that came in got to know Joni.”

Ms Jung added: “She always talked about how beautiful this Island was, how she would have friends meet with her and her husband, and later just her, here in Bermuda every year.”

Ms Tobash said that while on the Island, they heard about the “Why It Matters” campaign to raise funds for the new Acute Care Wing at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, and decided to make a donation in their late friend’s name.

“We wanted to leave something here of Joni, something in her name,” she said.