Stanley Ratteray was honoured on Friday by Bermuda's politicians with a minute's silence in the House of Assembly and individual tributes by members on both sides of the political divide.

Dr. Ratteray, who died last week at 68, was a founder of the United Bermuda Party and one of the pioneers of Bermuda's desegregation movement.

Opposition Leader Grant Gibbons led the call for condolences to be sent to Dr. Ratteray's family. "He was referred to in some respects as a quiet revolutionary," said Dr. Gibbons.

"He was a man of conviction and a man of very strong principles... He worked to break down barriers that he felt would not only impede Bermuda's progress but that would impede Bermudians taking their rightful place and having the rightful opportunities that they deserve... I can think of no better person to epitomise many of the values and convictions that the United Bermuda Party think are important for these Islands."

Erwin Adderley (UBP) remarked that Dr. Ratteray became a personal friend soon after they met in the early seventies and had worked under him when Dr. Ratteray was Planning Minister.

"He was a person who I respected greatly because he was a multi-talented individual... He was a renaissance man."

Premier Jennifer Smith told the House that Dr. Ratteray had been one of her first employers after graduating from high school.

"He liked to train his own dental assistants and I became one of those that he trained," said the Premier.

"It did not change my feelings about dentists, Mr. Speaker. But I certainly know more about dentistry than the average person... Dr. Ratteray... was one of those, who having experienced the freedom of society in Canada, did not accept the limits that Bermuda's rigidly segregated social order placed on its own black Bermudians."

She recalled Dr. Ratteray's contribution as a leader of the Progressive Group which led the fight to desegregate the theatres, his only attempt at being elected into office at the 1972 general election and his role as a political advisor to the 1966 constitutional conference in London.

"Bermuda certainly does owe him a debt for his role in establishing the Bermuda Arts Council and the Bermuda National Trust. Bermuda has lost one whose contribution spans the political, medical, cultural and community fields. On behalf of the Government and people of Bermuda, I want to extend sincere condolences to his wife Patricia, his daughters Deirdre and Aideen and his son Derek and their families. The fruits of their sacrifice, Mr. Speaker, in sharing their husband and father with those of us in the public has been evident in the areas of race relations, environmental awareness and economic development."

Referring to Dr. Ratteray's size, Shadow Legislative Affairs Minister John Barritt said that Dr. Ratteray was "Bermuda's Don King, before we even knew of Don King".

"And yet when you got to know him you knew that really he was a gentle giant... And his heart was, I dare say, as large as he was in all that he did. And what he taught us, by that I think, was the most important lesson that he wanted to drive home in all of his life - that you never judge a book by its cover, or a person by the colour of his skin or even by his looks. And with that heart he was also blessed with a keen analytical mind. And much like the dental practitioner that he was, he could certainly in the field of politics get to the root of the problem pretty quickly and deal with it."

The UBP's Maxwell Burgess recalled Dr. Ratteray's influence on his budding political career when he made a speech on Bermuda's future as a young man.

"It was he who in his own quiet voice, said `I heard what you had to say, I see where you want it to go, the only question I have is what are you going to do to make sure that it happens'."

"He was a man who was always positive," said shadow tourism Minister David Dodwell. "The glass was always half full to him. He was an optimistic man and somebody who was steady, patient, dependable, somebody you could always rely upon... I would say there was an extraordinary man who did extraordinary things for the country... Bermuda was and is the better for Stan Ratteray."