WE were saddened to learn of the sudden deaths of two personal friends and colleagues, both outstanding personalities whom we have featured from time to time.

They were Warrington (Soup) Zuill of Devonshire, in his 78th year; and Derek Fletcher, who only three weeks ago we featured on the occasion of the celebration of his golden wedding.

It is highly unlikely the paths of Mr. Zuill and Mr. Fletcher crossed in significant ways. They passed away at the weekend and their funerals take place tomorrow, Mr. Zuill at the First Church of God, North Shore, Devonshire, and Mr. Fletcher at St. Mary's Anglican Church, Warwick, where he was a licensed lay minister.

Mr. Zuill became a legend in his own time as a sports administrator, historian and statistician. He was esteemed as a walking encyclopaedia on "who's who" and "what was" in the 106-year history of Cup Match.

However, he first came to the public fore as a labour leader, in the aftermath BIU Longshoremen's Dock strike on September 16, 1959 led by Joe Mills. The dockworkers' march down Front Street culminated in the reading for the first time of the Riot Act that had been put on the statute books in 1905.

Soup picked up the reins of the fragmented dockworkers, of which he was one, and was elected their president when they formed the Bermuda Dock Workers Union.

Our photo at top is from a file story we carried on September 4, 2003 following the death of Soup's older brother Clarkston, who settled and died in Thailand following his retirement from the US Air Force. Clarkston, like Soup, became a leading promoter of sports in that far-off land. Soup and his wife, well-known beautician Alice Raynor-Zuill are on the right of Clarkston and his wife, during the first reunion the brothers had in more than 20 years.

Welsh-born G.D. Derek Fletcher (pictured below) was a retired Bermuda police officer who held high rank in the English Masonic District Grand Lodge of Bermuda. He was the Wor. District Grand Chaplain, having first worked his way through the ranks of Atlantic Phoenix Lodge, N. 224, Hamilton, on the Grand Registry of England.

He was recruited to the Bermuda Police Service in 1957, following a career with the Birmingham City police force that began in 1951.Soon after arriving in Bermuda he met a budding young banker, Helen Hill. They were married at St. Mary's Church on September 4, 1958.

Derek's funeral takes place one day after he was scheduled to add another star to his crown, and that was being presented as a published author. He was one of the writers in the Senior Learning Centre at the Bermuda College whose works are compiled in Legacies, the book set for a formal launch this evening at the College.

In his stark contribution, Mr. Fletcher tells about growing up in wartime Britain; how he got on the fast track in Bermuda; and how, as he put it, a "Higher Power" turned him around, changing his life. It is a most revealing, true story.