Alec Foster came to Bermuda in 1958 to help set up the Bermuda Paint Company. During his 30 years with the company, he became a director of the Coatings Research Group Incorporated, based in Cleveland, Ohio; was chairman of the Manufacturers Division of the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce; and was president of the Bermuda Credit Association.

He made an enormous contribution to the sporting and entertainment life of Bermuda. Perhaps he will be best remembered for his musical and thespian activities: "Messiah" and other oratorios; Junior Service League revues; a member of the Bermuda Philharmonic Society; an honorary past President of the BMDS; a life-long member of the Gilbert & Sullivan Society; a one-time member of the Studio Group, and, of course, Chet Butterfield's barber shop singers - The Grate Sounders.

Alec was also a dedicated Freemason, and had been appointed to a Grand Rank in no fewer than five different Masonic bodies.

He was an enthusiastic sportsman. His main love was rugby (he played for Sussex county in the UK) and he became the first President of the Bermuda Rugby Football Union (when it changed from the BRF Association). He also enjoyed cricket, sailing, tennis, squash and water polo.

During the Second World War, Alec spent most of his war years as Commanding Officer of motor torpedo boats, and received one of the highest awards for bravery, the Distinguished Service Cross.

He rejoined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve after the war, and finally ended his naval service in 1963 as Lieutenant Commander, RNR, with a distinguished record: the DSC, three times mentioned in dispatches, the Volunteer Reser ve Decoration - and two war wounds!

He was a member of the Naval Club, the Coastal Forces Veterans' Association, the Royal Naval Officers' Association in Bermuda of which he was a past president, the Royal Naval Association in Bermuda and the Bermuda War Veterans Association.

Alec Foster was not only a larger-than-life figure on the stage of BMDS but also on the bigger stage of life.

He was a wonderful raconteur, and his ability to entertain will be missed by all who knew him.