A fundraiser has been started for the family of a Bermudian man who died suddenly in the US.

Luis DaPonte Jr died of a brain aneurysm in March. He was 51.

The former Cable & Wireless employee left the Island in 1991 but frequently returned to visit his parents, Luis Sr and Mary DaPonte of Hamilton Parish.

At the time of his death he was living in Georgia with his wife Paula and their children, Alexandria, Domenic and Christian.

“Many of my family members — Luis Sr, Mary, my aunt Juliana Burgess and my uncle Miguel — still call Bermuda home,” said Alexandria, 21. “Bermuda has a pretty special place in our heart. I’ve been there several times. Pretty much every two or three years we would come back.

“I know many people on the Island were friends of my dad and the DaPonte family and we’ve had a hard time getting in touch with people in Bermuda so they know what’s going on. We also wanted to bring awareness to the race my brother Domenic is running.”

The 19-year-old is running the Miami Half-Marathon in January with Marc Giampietro, a former colleague of his father’s.

They’re hoping to raise $10,000 for the DaPonte children’s college education. See those efforts here: www.run4luis.com.

Alexandria said her father “ran multiple 5ks and half-marathons in his childhood home in Bermuda and looked forward to running a marathon one day”. He also taught his children to help others.

“My parents raised us to believe that giving was an important part of everyday life,” she said.

“My dad would set aside money every month in a fund called Love in Action. Every month he would give this money to a family in need, sometimes paying someone’s mortgage or bills, helping someone with car payments, or just buying someone’s groceries.

“My dad did not just sign a cheque and put ‘Love in Action’ in the memo, he lived out Love In Action every single day.

“The last time I spoke to my dad was just hours before he went into a coma and he was booking me a vacation trip to Bermuda for Easter break.” The former Warwick Academy student left the Island at 25 to study at the University of Windsor. He lived in Canada for a while before his job took him to the United States.

Mr Giampietro said he was moved to help Mr DaPonte’s family because of all the good deeds his friend did.

“I lost a very close co-worker and good friend in March of this year, but didn’t realise how many other people he touched during his journey in life,” he said.

“After meeting his family and friends, I wanted to do something that he would have done for me — or anyone for that matter.

“After a month of training for the Miami Marathon, I realised that this was going to be for him.

“Celebrating his memories and now having a true purpose to fuel my ambition, I reached out to his wife Paula of 25 years and she gave me her blessing.

“Luis was also excited about running, being outdoors, and loved the ocean. He ran several races in Bermuda, was a soccer coach in Canada for about ten years, loved gardening, family activities, and was a proud Portuguese Islander.”