Eugene Harvey (1936-2025): doctor and conservationist
A family practitioner who followed in his father’s footsteps as a doctor was also a keen member of the Bermuda National Trust as well as the charity Keep Bermuda Beautiful.
Eugene Harvey assisted in the births of thousands of babies in Bermuda over the course of his career from 1965 until his retirement in 1999.
He was known for his gift of remembering patients years later.
Dr Harvey gave of his time by volunteering on a series of government boards.
He was chairman of the examination committee for the Bermuda Medical Board, and chairman of both the recruit examination committee and the medical reference committee of the island’s Defence Board.
He also belonged to the ethics committee for King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, and volunteered at the Barn charity store in Devonshire, operated by the Women’s Hospital Auxiliary.
Dr Harvey was an advocate for low-income patients, and belonged in his retirement to the pressure group Bermuda Healthcare Consortium, founded in 2002.
He also highlighted issues that affected elderly patients and residents on the basic Health Insurance Programme package.
Dr Harvey was sent to England at the age of 13 to finish secondary school, and went on to complete his medical qualifications at Oxford University before training at Middlesex and other hospitals abroad for almost nine years.
He returned to Bermuda to set up his own general practice in the Woodbourne Building in Pembroke.
Dr Harvey recalled for a tribute in 2009 by the Bermuda Health Foundation that the island had just one gynaecologist and no paediatricians when he returned home.
He estimated that he had assisted in delivering as many as 3,000 babies over his subsequent career.
Dr Harvey was devoted to KBB along with his late wife, Susan, who served as president. He was field director for the charity.
For years, the couple volunteered long hours clearing the island’s open spaces of garbage. They also advocated for stronger legislation to crack down on illegal dumping.
Dr Harvey’s involvement started after he organised a clean-up around Warwick Pond, where volunteers gathered enough garbage to request that KBB send a truck to collect it. As a result, the charity invited him to join its board. He also joined the BNT’s environment committee.
A resident of Hungry Bay in Paget, Dr Harvey enjoyed setting out on the water — particularly sailing.
• Eugenius Harvey, a longstanding physician and charity volunteer, was born on April 27, 1936. He died in October 2025, aged 89
