IT seemed like an endless procession of relatives and friends who followed the cort?ge of Vincent Alpheus Ivan (Cat) Ratteray and filled to overflowing St. John's Parish Church, Pembroke

Mr. Ratteray , the father of 12 children, passed away just two months shy of his 93rd birthday on February 18.

He was hailed as the last of the "Big Cats", from a generation of born comedians, who without any particular fuss or bother enjoyed entertaining with their antics and humour anyone within earshot.

He was just like his own father, the first Alpheus (Cat) Ratteray of Somerset, who served overseas in the First World War, and who was noted for his ability from the hillside, to make the Cup Match come alive with his wit and stentorian voice that could be heard above the din, all over the field in Somerset.

Ivan was raised in the Pembroke area, on the Serpentine Road area behind the old Pembroke Meat Market, and following his marriage he built his homestead on St. John's Road, across from what is now Arnold's Supermarket. His formal education at St. Alban's School ended early, when he went to work, driving a horse and trolley for the Phoenix Drug Store delivering prescriptions.

During the Second World War Ivan worked at Darrell's Island Airport, refuelling aeroplanes. At night he performed with the Al Davis Orchestra at Belmont Hotel, spending many years as a vocalist and emcee.

Earlier, Ivan teamed with the late "Brinky" Tucker, performing at the old Colonial Opera House and nearly every church hall in the 1920s, '30s and '40s as "blacked-faced comedians" in minstrel shows. His growing sons, Raymond and Vincent, joined him and were billed as Cat and His Kittens. They sang, danced and told jokes, being much in demand all over Bermuda and at the two American bases.

As the years passed, he worked as a bartender, spending 40 years at the Kenwood Club in Hamilton, and later at the Old Colony Club, from where he retired.

Ivan was one of the founding members of the Leopard's Club International, where he and the late Cromwell Manders were the very funny tail-twisters at club luncheon meetings and other social events.

The "old Cat" mellowed considerably as the years went by. He gave his heart to the Lord and worshipped faithfully at The Church of Christ in Devonshire.

On February 23, 1933, he married the girl he said was his true love, Harriett Elizabeth Ming. She predeceased him. Out of the union were 12 children, Howard (Bobby), Raymond, Vincent, Ruth, Glenda, Elroy, Calvin, Quinton, Amy (Tina), Wilma, Sharon and Michael. Bobby and Tina predeceased him. She spent several years as a professional entertainer in London before her early demise.

Granddaughter Sharilyn Shabazz gave the obituary at the funeral.

She said: "Daddy Ivan has left a legacy behind for all of us, for what a father says to his children is not heard by the world, but it will be used for posterity. Daddy Ivan lived a long, loving, fulfilled life. He was truly 'the last of the Mohicans', as he used to be teased.

"We all loved him and will miss him very much. We affectionately knew him sometimes as 'groovy'. We were told he was a stern, strict father and his children were scared of him when they misbehaved. But to us he was a loveable, cuddly almost bald cat!"