The funeral of legendary political leader and lawyer Dame Lois Browne Evans will take place at 1 p.m. on Tuesday at the Cathedral of the Most Holy Trinity - on a day declared a national holiday by Government.

The Cabinet Office made the announcement last night after Senators paid tribute yesterday to a “giant of a woman”. Dame Lois, who would have turned 80 tomorrow, was rushed to hospital late Monday by ambulance. She died Tuesday morning of a suspected stroke.

Flags remained at half mast yesterday as the country came to grips with losing, as Premier Ewart Brown said on Wednesday, “a piece of its soul”.

Dame Lois was Bermuda’s first female barrister, the Island’s first female Attorney General and the first woman to become Opposition Leader in a British Commonwealth.

She was also the first black woman to be elected an MP when she won the Devonshire North seat in 1963, a seat she held for 30 years during which time she led the Progressive Labour Party twice from 1968 to1972 and then from 1976 to1985.

She stood down from office at the 2003 general election after helping mastermind the switch to single-MP seats - a move she had long championed.

The funeral will be broadcast live on radio and shown on television on Tuesday evening. All Government flags will continue to be flown at half mast until the day of the funeral and businesses and organisations are also encouraged to lower their flags to half mast as a gesture of respect.

Those wishing to pay their respects to Dame Lois can sign a condolence book at the Cabinet Office from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. each day until Monday. The public will be able to view her body on Monday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and on Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the PLP’s headquarters Alaska Hall, on Court Street, Hamilton.

A rare joint parliamentary session will be held at the House of Assembly on Friday on 10 a.m. to allow MPs and Senators to honour her passing. The last such session is believed to have taken place in 2004 to commemorate the life of Finance Minister Eugene Cox.

Last night, a moment’s silence in honour of Dame Lois was due to take place during the Beating of the Retreat Ceremony in Hamilton, where the Premier was the guest of the Bermuda Regiment’s Commanding Officer.