Another Bermudian patriot, Kimbel Ramson Leroy Tucker, has been laid to rest after a lifetime of sterling service in the realms of the hospitality industry.

Kimbel was in his 83rd year when he passed away in hospital after an illness lasting a month. Originally from Ord Road, Paget, he was the third of the seven sons of Myrtle Louise and Leroy Stanley Tucker. They also had one daughter, the late Janet Tucker Burt.

The Tucker Boys were esteemed from early in life for their manliness, their highly ambitious, industrious outlooks. Kimbel was characteristic, working on the family farm while getting a good grounding in the good old Three Rs at Paget Glebe School. As soon as he was employable, he got a job as a bellman at the Belmont and Elbow Beach Hotels.

What was most noteworthy about Kimbel was his preparedness to work double shifts and save enough to purchase his own taxi. He succeeded in that regard and for the next 60 or more years he was in business for himself. He and his cab, T 1402, became local and international icons

Also during that period Kimbel became owner and operator of the Captain Williams Bay Guest House in Devonshire. That establishment was later converted into a retirement home for seniors.

An abiding love for music led Kimbel to learn to play the piano, guitar and trombone. As a result, he played in the Bermuda Militia Band and when it was merged into the Bermuda Regiment Band, and later the Somerset Brigade Band. Combining his love for music and travel, Kimbel entered and won amateur talent contests on some of the many cruises he and his wife enjoyed.

Kimbel was predeceased by his brother Keith and sister Jeanette. He is survived by his wife Audrey, daughters Kimberley Tucker and Victoria Santucci and five brothers

The late Kimbel Tucker with guitar in this family photo at right is with his talented siblings and their father. Front are the late Keith Tucker with accordion and Lee Tucker the outspoken advocate of taxi owners protesting the Government's imposition on them of the GPS service. Standing on the left, Archie, who at 87 is the eldest sibling. He trains almost daily on the beach at Horseshoe Bay and runs in the Somerset to Hamilton marathon; father Leroy Tucker; Webster 'B' Tucker, who retired after decades-long broadcasting on ZBM Radio; he has recently begun hosting VSB's Saturday morning radio show; and Voorhees Tucker, a retired mortician and former Bermuda Regiment volunteer. Missing is brother Wendell, who for many years worked in London for the Ministry of Tourism promoting tourist travel to the island.