Friends and colleagues of Gaynor Thomas, Bermuda’s oldest practising pharmacist, have recalled her warm nature and studious devotion to her work.

Mrs Thomas passed away aged 81 at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital on July 20, having continued to serve as a locum pharmacist around the island until last month.

She moved to Bermuda from her native Wales more than 50 years ago and survived her husband Anthony Thomas.

A mother of four, Mrs Thomas lived in Devonshire and worked part-time at the nearby Lindo’s Pharmacy.

“Gaynor was very soft-spoken and kind-hearted, and also very thorough,” said Lindo’s head pharmacist Stephanie Simons, who knew Mrs Thomas for three decades.

“Whenever someone came in for any advice, the first question she would always ask was, ‘Do you take vitamins’?”

Harlean Saunders-Fox, secretary of the Bermuda Pharmaceutical Association, said Mrs Thomas “loved life and was ever so helpful, professionally or personally”.

“Gaynor swam every day when she was well past 70, no matter if the weather was hot or freezing cold,” she said.

“I used to tell her that I was going to be just like her, looking young and fit at a ripe old age.

“I’ll miss hearing her giggle, and seeing her brow crease when sympathising with her colleagues.”

Sonia Bromfield, a past president of the BPA, said: “Gaynor was a kind, humble, friendly, caring and empathetic pharmacist and we will all miss her dearly.

“She was devoted to her patients, and Bermuda and the pharmacy profession have lost an incredible person. May she rest in peace.”