Bermuda is in mourning with the news yesterday of the death of Stanley Ratteray, one of the founders of the United Bermuda Party (UBP) and a pioneer of the desegregation movement.

Dr. Ratteray died in his sleep yesterday morning at age 68. His daughter, Aideen Ratteray Pryse told The Royal Gazette last night her father took a nap and didn't wake up.

Friends and colleagues all expressed shock at his sudden passing.

Speaking on behalf of the Government, acting Premier Eugene Cox said that Dr. Ratteray had "served the community graciously".

"He certainly was a public figure and very active in public service for many years. A former minister for education and Senator, he was one of the leading lights in the desegregation movement and we, as a government lament his passing. We certainly extend our sympathies to his family. He served the public very graciously and will be greatly missed in the community."

Dr. Ratteray started his political life shortly after returning from McGill University, Canada, with a Doctorate of Dental Surgery, in 1957 as a founding member of The Progressive Group which challenged the status quo to desegregate the theatres. The success of that movement led to the unravelling of discrimination in many of the Island's institutions and was documented in the documentary `When Voices Rise'.

"I was shocked. I was completely "I was shocked. I was completely speechless because the last time I talked to him he was quite well and quite cordial and I am really saddened by his departure," said `When Voices Rise' director Errol Williams.

Dr. Ratteray would soon turn his attention to the movement for universal adult suffrage, joining the Committee for Universal Adult Suffrage (CUAS) which succeeded in achieving the extension of the franchise to all registered voters 21 years and older.

He served as a political advisor at the first Constitutional Conference in London in 1966 and later he was to help found the UBP, the Island's second political party, and in 1968 was appointed to the Legislative Council, now the Senate.

As the Island's first black education minister he oversaw desegregation of all public schools. Later as planning minister, he steered the first Planning and Development Act through the House of Assembly in 1974, setting down stringent zoning rules across the Island for the first time. As a UBP member he was a leading member of the Black Caucus along with Gloria McPhee, Clarence James, and others.

UBP Leader Grant Gibbons last night said he was "tremendously saddened" by the death of a "quiet revolutionary who worked hard in the early civil rights movement " and one of the "architects of modern Bermuda".

"I've known him for a long time, and have always had enormous respect for him as a person and for his significant contributions to Bermuda... Of course he was one of the founding members of the United Bermuda Party and also served as Chairman. He was clear in his vision that all Bermudians had to come together for true progress to be made," he said.

"On a personal level, he was always generous with his advice and it was inevitably constructive and honest. He had vast experience in public service, serving as a member of the Executive Council and as a minister for various portfolios, including education and planning and environment."

Dr. Gibbons added: "The United Bermuda Party has been fortunate to have a man of his ability and stature to guide it from the early days right up until now. On behalf of my Parliamentary colleagues and the Party, I would like to extend our heartfelt sympathies to his wife Pat and his children."

Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott echoed those sentiments adding that Dr. Ratteray was a personal friend whose death came as a shock.

"He was my dentist for most of those years, until a year or two ago. While we didn't agree politically he used to make his political points while I was under his drill or he was working on me so I couldn't reply," Minister Scott said.

"He didn't hesitate to let you know how he felt or believed and for that he is to be respected. I publicly extend my sympathies to (wife) Pat and the family and we certainly join with the rest of Bermuda who mourn a very, very important native son."

Dr. Ratteray resigned from active politics in the early 1980s after a stint as the UBP's campaign chairman. But, say his friends, he continued to work behind the scenes. In 2000 he resurfaced as a political activist as an executive member of the lobby group The Association for Due Process and the Constitution.

Besides his political career, he was keenly interested in all community issues, serving at one time as Deputy Chairman of the Bermuda Mental Health Foundation.

Dr. Ratteray had a passion for the arts and culture in Bermuda and, with Sir Dudley Spurling, established the Bermuda Arts Council and the Bermuda National Trust.

He was one of the founders of the Menuhin Foundation, served as chairman of the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society (BMDS) for three years and did a six year stint as chairman of the Bermuda Festival.

With his daughter Aideen, he was an early driving force behind the Bermuda International Film Festival.

Former deputy governor and long time personal friend, Peter Lloyd, who took over Dr. Ratteray's chairmanship of the Bermuda Festival in 1987, described the news of Dr. Ratteray's passing as a "great shock and a great sadness.

"I've known Dr. Ratteray for many many years... when I was deputy governor and when we came back in 1987. I took over from him as chairman of the Bermuda Festival and he maintained an active interest in the festival. It's a great shock and a great sadness."

Gloria McPhee, who was Dr. Ratteray's cabinet colleague in the late 1960s and early 1970s recalled his career in Government:

"He was an excellent politician... I was shocked. It was totally unexpected and it's hard to believe... hard to accept. He was a very good friend. His contribution to the UBP really gave it an essence of sincere politics. He was concerned about the people. He is a major loss."

"We've lost a great friend in Dr. Ratteray. He and my husband Dr. John Stubbs (another early UBP member) were very great friends," said Robin Stubbs.

"I just want to express thanks that Stan remained a great friend to Clemmy, my daughter, and myself since the death of her father. I just want to say what a great person he was. He will be sadly missed by not only us but all of Bermuda for his great contribution."

Former Premier Sir John Swan said news of his friend's death came to him just as he arrived back on the Island.

"He was a very conscientious individual... He served on many boards and was very much dedicated to embracing all in Bermuda. He was highly respected in his profession as a dentist. Not only was he very much a personal friend but he was also a tenant of mine. He has been in the Swan building since 1968. You could tell the measure of the man by the patients he had - people from all walks of life.

"He has made a contribution that embraces everybody. We can see him as an educator in terms of the Department of Education and activities that were in the forefront of change, from the old colonial to the more contemporary structure," Sir John said.

"I'll miss him as a friend and a person I could intellectualise with and engage our minds in issues that affected Bermuda and the world at large. I'll miss him because he was so dedicated to whatever he did. And I'll miss him because he represented so much of what Bermuda has become today."

Dr. Ratteray leaves behind three adult children, Deirdre, Derek and Aideen, and four grandchildren.

For UBP Deputy Leader Erwin Adderly, this newspaper's call for his comments was the first he had heard of his friend's death.

"Please don't tell me that... I saw him on the street yesterday," he said. "He was a very close friend of mine... He looked in perfect health. This is a personal loss."