Her story begins in New York, where she was born in Greenwich Village and raised in Brooklyn. Given the robust life she has enjoyed as an adult, it is hard to believe that, growing up, she did not enjoy the best of health, and was beset with illnesses which sometimes required long absences from school.

Nonetheless, as a bright and articulate young adult, she would make her way very successfully in the business world. In her native New York she joined a company with an intriguing background, and quickly became a skilled and invaluable employee.

“It was a fantastic, international trading company which has been founded after the war by the British, American and Canadian intelligence services, MI5, OSS and Sir William (Intrepid) Stevenson,” Mrs. Tricker says. “We traded every commodity in the world: iron ore, spices, fats and oils, cattle, coal, rayon - you name it, and I was the corporate secretary to the president.”

As good as the job was, however, after 15 years Mrs. Tricker was ready for change. She was 40 years old and wasn't it said that that was when life began? So. should she go to California or Hawaii, or should she simply retire? Before she could find an answer, on learning of her plans, her employers urged her not to proceed.

“Not now, Margaret, something is going to happen that you will like,” they employers promised.

Thus it was that, on May 19, 1962 the corporate secretary arrived on a typically ‘Bermudaful' day to set up a new trading company called the World Commerce Corporation - a move from which she has never looked back.

“I have spent half my life here,” Mrs. Tricker says.

As with all new ventures, her work was demanding, as were the responsibilities of her eventual partnership with her friend, Mrs. Ann Smith Gordon, in Contours, a local lingerie and prosthesis store, so it was some years before she felt free to fulfill her longing to do voluntary work for charity.

Finally, through a chance conversation, Mrs. Tricker learned of PALS and, along with Mrs.Smith Gordon, attended a meeting which was to set the seal on a long association with Bermuda's cancer charity. Today, Mrs. Smith Gordon is the president of the organisation and Mrs. Tricker is marking 20 years as a volunteer.

Over the years the former corporate secretary has served in many capacities and wherever a helping hand was needed. Today, she is a director of PALS, sits on various administrative committees, and is also the Memorial Secretary - a near-fulltime responsiblity, which includes recording donations and writing individual thank-you letters and personalised cards to all memorial donors.

“I am busier now than before I retired,” Mrs. Tricker says.

In fact, this work has grown so much that she is now helped by two volunteers, Fay Leseur and Joan Stevens.

Past forms of service include being a volunteer driver, visiting patients, comforting their families, and working at the Christmas fairs, to name but a few.

While PALS remains a priority, it is by no means Mrs. Tricker's sole focus. Her deep interest in all facets of local life is reflected in a variety of ways. For many years she washed pots at Meals on Wheels, and still supports the Bermuda Maritime Museum, the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, the Bermuda Society of Arts, the Bermuda National Gallery, the Seniors Learning Centre and Age Concern through membership fees and donations.

Given Mrs. Tricker's busy schedule, her leisure time is understandably much prized and consciously budgeted.

“I have a life too,” she explains.

An inveterate traveller, together with Mrs. Smith Gordon she has travelled to exotic locations and countries near and far, including Europe and Asia. She has swum with sea lions and white-tipped sharks in the Galapagos Islands, been on safaris in Kenya and Tanzania, ridden elephants in India and Nepal; and in the latter country also experienced some of her most hair-raising adventures.

“I was nearly thrown overboard while shooting the rapids; and during a trek, while we were camping in a tiny tent on the mountain we were nearly blown off by hurricane-force winds.

During the revolution for democracy we were tear-gassed,” she says, “but I would have to say Egypt was my most unusual experience. Seeing the tombs of the Pharoahs was just unbelievable. I love to go to places that are different.”

The duo plan a trip every year, during which Mrs. Smith Gordon takes countless slides for later compilation into popular audio-visual presentations, the premi?re of which is always a fundraiser for PALS.

A keen sportswoman until a few years ago, Mrs. Tricker played tennis and also loved boating, fishing, and free diving for lobsters, all of which she reluctantly curtailed for health reasons but remains an avid spectator.

Along with Mrs. Smith Gordon, with whom she shares a charming waterside cottage, she enjoys entertaining a wide circle of friends from all walks of life, although she admits to steering clear of the kitchen.

“I am in charge of display and maintenance and Ann is in charge of food and beverage,” the octagenarian laughs.

When finally Mrs. Tricker does kick back and relax, it is usually with a book or a crossword puzzle, about which she is passionate.

Biographies and mystery novels are her favourite reading material.

Looking back over her full and happy life here, the former New Yorker is hard-pressed to pinpoint one supreme event.

She does, however, count some as being very special highlights. Receiving the Queen's Certificate and Badge of Honour in 1996 for her services to the community through PALS is one, while being presented to the Queen as a representative of the organisation during Her Majesty's last visit is another.

“It was such a thrill to meet her, because I have always been an anglophile, and I am very interested in the royal family,” she says.

With a zest for life which far outweighs her years, Margaret Tricker takes no day for granted.

She is up with the lark, and ready to meet each day's blessings and challenges with equal enthusiasm.

‘Rustication' and ‘rocking chairs' are not in her lexicon.

On the contrary she says: “I am still active and I think life is wonderful. I appreciate every day, every flower that grows, and every season.

“As for Bermuda, I have loved the Island and its people from the moment I stepped off the plane that sparkling May morning 40 years ago.

“It is an absolutely beautiful place to live, and I can say without hesitation that the second half of my life has been not only the most fulfilling, but also the happiest.”