Gilbert Darrell, born in Flatts in 1923 to Ambrose and Inez Darrell, led an early life rooted in Bermuda, but connected in many ways to America. His maternal uncle Lenny, married an American, Aunt Joey and was living up in Harlem.

Keeping in touch, they sent literature of all types. His Mom made use of the entrepreneurial ideas to help the family budget.

Gilbert remembers at seven, helping his older sister, Lorraine, to sell Mom’s baked goods to the workmen building the Railway, not far from their house at Crawl Point. His fondest memories included the neighbourhood gathering at Ma Furbert’s House to listen to radio broadcasts from the US, such as Joe Louis fights.

That sense of community was a passion with his family; being involved in projects, such as sponsoring Cara Spencer as the District Nurse for Hamilton Parish, filling a gap in a segregated society. They were active in the AME Church, an American denomination that migrated here in the 1890s, with that same ‘do-for-self’ spirit.

After a couple of years at the Berkeley, Gilbert’s mother used some of ‘baked-goods’ money to send him off to Wilberforce University’s High School in Ohio, an institution founded by the AME Church. His class included other Bermuda boys and he enjoyed the two years before graduating, with the intention to continue at the University. Aware of the budget limits, Gilbert developed a plan which included working at the Castle Harbour Hotel for a while. However, that the year the Second World War started, closing hotels and curtailing those plans.

Gilbert subsequently secured a job as a ‘helper’ at Meyer’s Ship Yard. He recalls Hugh Richardson pedalling from Hamilton and he and others joining along the way, arriving at Meyer’s before 7 a.m. Bermuda was the staging area for convoys of mainly US freighters travelling across the Atlantic to the War Front and Meyer’s provided key maintenance for these ships. Crews from the Yard would go out by tender to carry out repairs at Murray’s Anchorage, where there would be as many as 20 ships — over-loaded with war supplies. Gilbert found his apprenticeship at Meyer’s invaluable and eventually moved up as crew on one of their tugs. With this preparation, he joined fellow Bermudians to crew a large US tug in 1945, commissioned to take it to Italy.

On the way over, the War ended. However, they completed their mission, ending up in the Mediterranean. The crew made their way through the chaos of that post-war period and hopped various ships to return across the Atlantic to New York.

Gilbert recalls making his way to the National Maritime Union, C.I.O. down on 14th Street where he received both his accreditation from the US Coast Guard and union card on November 15, 1945. This became his ‘base’ for working as a Junior Engineer on a variety of freighters; mostly trans-Atlantic.

These were not easy times; Gilbert lost a piece of finger while one of his fellow Bermudians; Alfred Sweeting, lost his life in an accident. However, that period in the Merchant Marines up to 1948 prepared him well.

When he returned to the Island and started a family, Gilbert partnered with his Aunt Gladys Stowe in a small grocery started by his grandfather — Clarence Darrell. He later took it over and drawing on his engineering experience decided also to repair refrigeration equipment. He travelled to Chicago for three months in 1951 to train at a refrigeration factory. Subsequently he opened Darrell & Seaman Grocery with his wife, Coralita as well as Gilbert Darrell Store Equipment.

His last major training occurred in 1956, in the US took place back in Ohio, where he spent some four months with his young family, learning the engineering of equipment produced by Toledo Scales Company.