His plumed hat and crisp white Bermuda shorts were the first things to greet visitors to the Castle Harbour Hotel for 20 years — and anyone who ever got a ride in his cab is unlikely to have forgotten him.

Award-winning taxi driver and doorman Victor Woolridge, an "ambassador extraordinaire" for the Island for most of his long life, has died aged 90. The father-of-two passed away peacefully at home last Wednesday after a 30-year battle with cancer.

"He didn't want anybody to know he had cancer," his daughter Victoria Caisey told The Royal Gazette last night. "He had cancer but cancer didn't have him."

Premier Ewart Brown and Opposition Leader Kim Swan both paid tribute to him yesterday.

Mr. Swan said he was a "shining example" of what a young, aspiring Bermudian could achieve.

"Tourists were captivated by him at their arrival at 'The Castle' and looked for him each day and, more importantly, on their inevitable return," said Mr. Swan.

"He is arguably one of the most photographed Bermudians of all time.

"Victor Woolridge embodied the true spirit of what it took to be a Bermudian in the tourism industry — an excellence which permeated so abundantly with his contemporaries."

Dr. Brown said: "Mr. Woolridge was an ambassador extraordinaire for Bermuda. Whether he was driving his taxi or greeting visitors at the hotel, he was always making people feel more comfortable and happier in Bermuda. We will miss him."

To his wife of almost 40 years, Mr. Woolridge was a "real, real, genuine gentleman" who made her breakfast every morning, polished her shoes, read the newspaper to her and cleaned her car until it shone.

"He was a good husband and a good father," said Lucille Woolridge, 79. "The women loved him to death. I couldn't leave him to go to the bathroom! He was a very good looking man and he hadn't changed very much. He was a wonderful man."

Arnold Victor Hugh Parker Woolridge was born on February 3, 1918, and spent his early years on a farm, a childhood he summed up as "a beautiful life...like a picnic" when he was interviewed in 1989 for the Bermuda Recollections book of memories.

His first job was delivering groceries on his bike, but aged 18 he got a job onboard a cargo ship and travelled to Cuba, America, the Caribbean, Canada and England.

His subsequent career back on the Island was eclectic: Mr. Woolridge dug graves for dead soldiers at the American base at Kindley Field during the Second World War, before becoming a bus driver and horse and carriage operator.

He became one of the first black men in Bermuda to buy his own taxi and spent the next 53 years immaculately dressed in jacket, tie and shirt behind the wheel of his cab. He was devastated when he eventually had to give up driving.

Mr. Woolridge's wife remembers how he loved bringing tourists back to their Smith's home and serving homemade rum swizzle — making countless friends from abroad in the process. Some of his more famous passengers included Sir Winston Churchill, President Dwight Eisenhower and Henry Kissinger.

At the Castle Harbour Hotel, in Tucker's Town, where he began as a doorman in 1967, the clientele was no less glamorous. Mr. Woolridge met Lucille Ball and Ted and Bobby Kennedy and was given a recognition and thanks award by Marriott Hotels at the end of his career there.

In 1995, he received a Certificate of Honour from the Queen for "being a great ambassador for Bermuda". And his service to the community continued long after his retirement: earlier this year he raised $2,000 for the PALS charity at his 90th birthday party.

Mr. Woolridge was only the fourth man in Bermuda to be diagnosed with breast cancer, eventually undergoing a double mastectomy a decade ago. He survived that disease but ultimately succumbed to prostate cancer, which he had first been diagnosed with 30 years ago.

His daughter said he stayed strong until the end. "He was a good fighter," said Mrs. Caisey, 37. "But there was no pain, no suffering. We were expecting it. He made all the arrangements and he told us it was time — he was getting tired."

Mr. Woolridge leaves behind his wife, daughter, son Eugene (Frisky) Woolridge from his first marriage, six grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren, as well as his sister Louise Burt. He also had three stepchildren.

The funeral will be held at 4 p.m. on Thursday at Christ church, Devonshire.