We feature this week a lady who has spent more than half a century of her life on the planet helping to do what we nowadays call 'spreading the love about Bermuda'.

What's most interesting about Mrs. Sylvia Crowther of Pitts Bay Road is that she has come to Bermuda from her native Eastern European country of Estonia by way of Germany, Australia and Canada. And, above it all, over the decades she has become as much a Bermudian in spirit and truth as perhaps anyone else.

We got to know about Mrs. Crowther by coincidence from the rather effervescent young lady whom she calls her 'Mookoo', Clare Hannon (pictured far right with her brother Michael). They were in a group of family and friends who came from London, taking their grandmother completely by surprise with a 90th birthday party they had organised at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.

A sprightly and spry Mrs. Crowther said although she was taken by surprise she was nonetheless more than happy to see the 30 people attending the party.

She was born in Estonia on April 2, 1918. Her maiden name was Sylvia Laas. Her parents owned and operated a bakery and confectionery. At the start of World War Two, the neighbouring Russians occupied Estonia for one year. The Germans came and pushed the Russians out, occupying her country for next three years. Then the Russians came again.

She said experiences during the first Russian occupation were so awful she made up her mind that she could and would not live behind the Iron Curtain. In fact, her father's health was undermined and he died after having been given three days to vacate his home by the Russians.

She was among the thousands who fled Estonia ahead of the Russians, and the only place they could get to was Germany, where she spent the last few months of the war.

"I was lucky to get a job as an interpreter with the American Military Government," she said.

After three years she went to Australia for eight years. She was not happy there and went to Canada at the beckoning of friends.

When she heard about Bermuda she got a job as a waitress at the old Castle Harbour Hotel. It was hard work, but she felt very much at home in Bermuda, making many friends here.

When the hotel closed for major renovations she went to Pink Beach Cottage Colony in charge of the housekeeping department and was one of the hostesses of its swizzle parties. In 1972 she married Robert (Bob) Crowther, now deceased, who was an accountant at Watlington & Conyers Travel Agency in 1972.

Asked how 'Mookoo', who is half Estonian, came into the picture, Mrs. Crowther, who is childless, said the former's birth grandmother was her best friend, who asked her to be godmother to her only daughter, and when both passed away she became substitute grandmother to the child. She explained 'mookoo' in Estonia means 'doll', and that's what Clare is like.

Mrs. Crowther said the only kin she has are three cousins in Estonia, but happily, she is closely connected with her late husband's relatives who have been visiting Bermuda regularly for the past 30 years.