Premier pays tribute to his Aunt Gloria
Mrs. McPhee, the mother of two, was in her 81st year when she died on February 18. She was an achiever in her own right, long before being launched on the political scene as ‘the secret weapon’ that helped put the United Bermuda Party in orbit and cement its 30-year grasp on the Government of Bermuda.
It was her own first cousin and political antagonist, Dr. Brown, who was instrumental in toppling the UBP nine years ago.
During her 12 years in Parliament Mrs. McPhee had the distinction of becoming Bermuda’s first female Cabinet Minister, holding portfolios for Health and Social Services, which included responsibility for Prisons, and later Education, and Planning and the Environment.
Born into a family of achievers, whose ancestors could be traced to the earliest days of the settlement of Bermuda, Mrs. McPhee was particularly proud of her African heritage.
Her mother was Dorothy Pearman Darrell. Her father, Hilgrove Darrell, has a special place in black history, being one of pillars of the Friendly Society Movement and foremost among the builders of the old Colonial Opera House in Hamilton.
The opera house was the crowning glory of black achievement in the post-emancipation era, before it was razed by fire.
The Darrells had three daughters, including Helene, the deceased mother of Premier Brown, who gave up her career as an educator to become a Member of Parliament in the same election that first propelled Gloria. The second daughter was Gloria and youngest and sole survivor is Winifred Simons.
The three Darrell sisters were noted from their youngest days for their physical beauty, charm and intellect. Gloria’s academic career began at Elliott School and, according to her obituary, ‘she breezed through the Berkeley Institute’, meriting at the end one of the few available and coveted Bermuda Government scholarships. She entered Howard University in Washington, DC and earned a bachelor of science degree cum laude.
It was at Howard U that she met her future husband, Bahamas-born George Bertram (Bert) McPhee. He was engaged in pre-medical studies; and Gloria had commenced pre-dentistry studies with the clear intention of following in the professional footsteps of her father’s sister Amy Darrell, who was Bermuda’s first female dentist.
Gloria was offered a place in 1948 in the dental schools of both Howard and McGill University in Montreal, Canada where Bert had commenced his medical studies.
Following their marriage Gloria decided to earn a master of science degree in zoology. In 1954 Dr. McPhee his wife and two children, daughter Karen and son Kevin, moved to the Bahamas where he was offered a post as a district medical officer.
They were persuaded to come to Bermuda to fill the void caused by the deaths in 1955 of Doctors E.F. Gordon and Leon Williams.
Mrs. McPhee is survived by her husband; her son Kevin Darrell McPhee and his wife Julie; and her daughter Karen Juanita McPhee, all of whom live in the United States.
There are also two grandchildren, Karen’s grown-up children, Karmen and Jason Temple, both of whom, like their mother, are pursuing studies in law. Also surviving are sister Winifred Simons and her husband George.
“As I pondered how best to deliver this very public tribute to a great lady, my mind settled on a simple and obvious guide, in my Aunt’s style and custom, I will tell it like it is.
Our genetic connection was, of course, clear. She was my mother’s younger sister and therefore, all titles aside, she was Aunt Gloria to me. But to deny that she was someone special would be to ignore what is now an integral part of Bermuda’s history.
Gloria McPhee was no spectator to Bermuda’s development; she was a force in it. Part of what she developed is the man you see before you now. Our paths in life have followed, at varying stages, in identical steps. Flatts (Village), Howard University, a love of the West Indies and, of course, politics coursed equally in our veins.
I can well remember my visits back to Bermuda when she was in the thick of politics and I was in the throes of revolution.
With some amusement she and my mother would entertain my discourse on just how much was wrong with Bermuda and how misguided they were in the means by which they sought to fix it.
She knew then what I became to know much later in life, that I too would join the struggle to change Bermuda and that there are people on both sides of the divide equally committed to doing just that.
Gloria McPhee added a new dimension to public service in Bermuda. Indeed her ‘first woman in Cabinet’ status would have been sufficient to seal her place in our history, but she was not defined by that feat alone nor was it the one of which she was most proud.
Undoubtedly, by its very occurrence it must be seen as the barrier-breaking step that by implication accounts for the success of women in public life in this country; but she was much more than this.
Gloria McPhee brought compassion and genius to her public service. Her ministerial service was notable for the change in the focus of the Ministry of Health to a portfolio that accepted its social responsibility in this country. As Minister of Education she faced the integration of schools head on
Her efforts and those of several others in reforming the Party of her choice are widely known.
The challenge she mounted in taking on an established power took courage at that time as it takes courage today.
She did it because it was right and to have not done it would have been to betray her personal philosophy.
About ten years ago my Aunt, and it was truly an Aunt who did this, wrote in a letter to the Berm Sun <$>a brief history of our family lineage, and in referring to some St. David’s Island blood sought to explain her nephew’s behaviour.
What she said in that letter encapsulated our relationship perfectly, and I quote: ‘I may not concur completely with his political philosophy — but I respect it — nor with some of his methods of handling problems and antagonising others. However, I do respect his right to choose his politics and friends nor with some of his methods’.”
The Premier concluded, saying: “Others may have seen us as the UBP Aunt and the PLP nephew but she was flesh of my flesh and blood of my blood and in our common goal to make Bermuda a better place we are forever one.”
My main photo shows the cortege of Gloria McPhee exiting the Anglican Cathedral en route to St. Mark’s cemetery for burial. Pallbearers are Dr. Ewart Brown, Andrew Outerbridge, Michael J. Scott, Cole Simons, Charles Scott (nephew) and Donald Smith.
