The death has occurred in Plymouth, Vermont of retired insurance executive Basil Mathew (Bill) Pimm at the age of 89.Mr Pimm came to Bermuda in 1975 to join global insurance broker Marsh & McLennan (Bermuda) Ltd. as assistant to the managing director, David Vaughan. His steady rise to the top of the company began with his promotion to managing director and senior vice-president in 1981; to president in 1983, and finally to chairman in 1985.Following his retirement from Marsh & McLennan (Bermuda) Ltd., Mr Pimm joined newly-formed insurer Ace Ltd as executive vice-president in 1986. Later he served as a consultant to the company after retiring in 1989.Tracing Mr Pimm’s association with Ace, former chairman and chief executive John Cox said that at the time the company was formed in late 1985, he (Mr Cox) was the sole employee, and Mr Pimm, as manager of Marsh & McLennan operations in Bermuda, provided “the complete package of service, and every and any requirement which confronted Ace”.“In 1986, when Bill was nearing retirement age I offered him the job as major domo of the Company, and he became an employee of Ace. He was the most essential person in creating this company, and nurtured it like it was his child. He was always polite, always stern, always fair, and finally he became a great friend. He was also instrumental in Ace becoming partners with Bermuda Fire & Marine to build the first Ace building in Bermuda. I pay homage to him, and regret his passing.”Bermudian businessman Richard Butterfield, a partner in the firm which first audited Ace, also recalled Mr Pimm’s “very valuable” contributions to the development of the insurance industry in Bermuda.“Bill was a wise, quiet, steady man, who was always accessible. I considered him to be one of the quiet heroes of the development of Bermuda’s insurance industry, for which I always admired him, and I felt very thankful to have met him.”Well-known and respected as an expert in his field, Mr Pimm was also a consultant first to Mid Ocean Reinsurance Co Ltd, which later merged with XL Capital Ltd (now XL Group plc), and then to Bankers Insurance Co Ltd.He served as president of the Bermuda Insurance Managers Association, and was on the board of the Bermuda Insurance Institute.Born in London, England on November 30, 1921, Mr Pimm joined the British Army in 1941 and served until 1948. He saw active duty during the Second World War in India and Burma as a member of the Third Carabiniers (Prince of Wales Dragoon Guards), Royal Armoured Corps.Burma was the scene of some of the most savage fighting of the war, with some 71,244 British and Commonwealth troops being killed or wounded.Second World War medals earned by then-Sergeant Pimm were the Burma Star, Defence Medal, War Medal with Oak Leaf Emblem, and the 1939-1945 Star.In 1946, Sergeant Pimm was cited by King George VI for Distinguished Service in an official despatch published in the London Gazette on May 6, 1946.Following his retirement from military service in 1948 with the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant, Mr Pimm joined The London Assurance to begin what would become a lifetime career in insurance in Britain, Canada and Bermuda.A keen golfer and sailor, Mr Pimm was a member of the Senior Golfers Association of Bermuda; a former Secretary of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club; and he also served as trustee of the Bermuda Maritime Museum (now the National Museum of Bermuda).Paying tribute to Mr Pimm’s association with the National Museum, executive director Dr Edward Harris said:“Bill Pimm was one of the leading trustees of the Bermuda Maritime Museum for a number of years, and was of great help with the restoration of the Commissioner’s House, which became his favourite public building on the Island. As one of the original people associated with the founding of Ace Insurance at Bermuda, Bill was responsible for one of the first major exempt company gifts to the Museum and Commissioner’s House, and was of considerable assistance in raising funds for the project from that important sector of the community.”Mr Pimm is survived by his wife Jean (née Myerscough, a former head mistress of the Bermuda High School for Girls), sons David (Jane) of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Andrew (Heather) of Vancouver; and daughter, Gail, of Toronto; grandchildren Derek, Denis, Alexander and Victoria; sister Gwendoline (Peg) Grant, and eight nieces and nephews and their families, all of Vancouver.A family service is planned for April 9 in Vancouver. Arrangements for a celebration of Mr Pimm’s life in Bermuda later in April are pending.Donations in Mr Pimm’s memory may be made to the National Museum of Bermuda, PO Box MA 133, Sandys MABX.