A champion for social, political and economic causes who remained deeply committed to his community until the very end is how friends, relatives and colleagues remember Sir John Robin Plowman.

Last night past and present Members of Parliament and others who knew Sir John paid tribute to the elder statesman who was an architect of the United Bermuda Party.

Opposition Leader Dr. Grant Gibbons said: "In his younger days he was a successful businessman but most people remember him as an elder statesman who remained until the very end.

"He was a progressive thinker who worked actively for the good of the community and Bermuda.

"You could also characterise him as someone who was very thoughtful and had an incisive mind that could get to the core of most issues.

"He was certainly a forceful personality who was successful in producing results.

"All in all he had what I think most people would consider an outstanding record of public service."

Extending his sympathy to Sir John's family and thanking them for having shared his life with us, former Premier Sir John Swan said: "I had the opportunity to talk with him when I visited him several weeks ago. We talked about Bermuda's past and present as well as Bermuda's future.

"He was a great scholar of history but committed to the prospects of the future.

"He was by far one of the great architects of modern day Bermuda.

"He believed in fairness and was a great proponent of racial harmony and justice and who fought hard for racial integration and was a strong proponent of social justice and monetary responsibility.

The former Premier also noted that Sir John's love for sport was unprecedented and that he was especially a fan of football and golf.

He concluded: "He was an astute businessman but devoted his real natural talent to the service of the Government and various organisations that help with the betterment of our community. Therefore I regard him as one of the great libertarians and democratic equity proponents."

C.V. (Jim) Woolridge, who served as Minister of Tourism for the United Bermuda Party during the period that Sir John was Minister of Marine and Air, said: "I regret the passing of my good friend. Sir John Plowman played a pivotal role in the establishment of political parties in Bermuda.

"He was a respected member of Cabinet and a spokesman for the United Bermuda Party in the Senate."

Mr Woolridge noted that Sir John had been on of the people instrumental in influencing him to become a member of the UBP in the early 1960s.

And, it was together that Sir John and Mr. Woolridge achieved an important link between Atlanta and Bermuda. In 1980 they were successful in bringing a Delta Air Lines flight to Bermuda which remains today.

He continued: "Sir John was a tireless worker who contributed tremendously to the social, political, and economical aspects of life in Bermuda.

"During the Second World War he was the director of the very important Wartime Supplies Commission responsible for distributing any supplies that came the Bermuda. He did an outstanding job in that field.

"Not only did he involve himself in the aforementioned areas but he was a director of the Bermuda Football Association.

"Sir John helped to bring about equity in this country as far as the people were concerned and he led by example in his own company Holmes Williams and Purvey where he created opportunities for young Bermudians who had started out as mechanics and became executives and eventually held executive positions in that company.

"I would like to extend my deepest condolences to the family of the late Sir John Plowman."

United Bermuda Party Senator Kim Swan said: "I'm deeply saddened by this loss."

"Into his nineties he never stopped being a Trojan horse for Bermuda. He championed many causes. He was very much a social activist in his own right. I had the benefit of knowing him for the last 20 years.

"He always stood out a man who had a caring vision for the whole country. He was a champion to the downtrodden and he had a tremendous social conscience.

"His contribution to Bermuda would be difficult to match but one that would merit one to care to try to emulate.

"His contribution was remarkable. You would think of a person in his nineties, how would he find time to do that. He never stopped carrying on his work. He continued on until very recently."

"I'm sure during his earlier years his work forming the Government must have been magnified many fold.

"I feel very fortunate to have known such a great man who made such a tremendous contribution to this country. I think we are blessed to have had a person who continued to make such a valuable contribution when many people's innings would have closed."

Members of Holmes Williams and Purvey, where Sir John served as a partner from 1947 to 1998, also shared their thoughts on Sir John's life and work.

President and CEO of the HWP group Johnathan Brewin said: "Sir John has been actively involved with HWP Group for many, many years and we will all miss him greatly.

"All of us here at HWP Group are deeply saddened at this loss and want to take this opportunity to publicly express our deepest sympathy to Sir John's family at this most difficult time."

In addition to Sir John's tireless efforts as a businessman and a statesman, he was involved in charitable causes. One of his many accomplishments was serving as the Chairmen on the Year of the Older Persons Committee (IYOP).

Director of the Senior's Programme at Admiralty House Fred Hassell, MBE, worked as coordinator of the committee and had this to say about Sir John: "He did a dynamic job in the chairmanship of the committee that met for two years to observe and celebrate older persons under the title 'Bermuda, a society for all ages'.

"I found him to be very exacting given that he was very thorough. He was a master of the Government procedures and policy and brought to bear on the committee his experience of Bermuda and I could see that he was governed by a spirit that was probably the cause for his concern for the people who struggled to pay their rent, for people who struggled to pay their insurance, for people with low pension.

"He seemed obsessed in trying to change that. He was deeply affected by those things and wanted IYOP to make recommendations to Government about them."

When asked about Sir John's Family life, his youngest son Piers said: "That's the side of him that hasn't been talked about very much but he was a family man.

"We were brought up - my brother and I - at a time when he was very busy, but we never noticed it.

"I think he got most of his pleasure out of his family. It was his release from the pressures of politics and the business world. A lot of people didn't see that.

"I never thought anything of it at the time but looking back on it, he was such a busy man, yet we never felt left out."