Former taxi driver Ashton Vincent Swan, who recently passed away, has been remembered as a caring and kind-hearted gentleman.

He will be sorely missed by family, friends and colleagues as well as a young lady he drove to WindReach, a community facility that serves people with a range of physical and intellectual disabilities, for 16 years.

Sarah Outerbridge, who travelled with Mr Swan every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday since 1998, wrote a touching tribute to her old friend, saying: “I had a nice chit chat with him on the way to WindReach, he knows my grandpa Stuart who drove in a cab, and he also knows my family. It’s sad but he got a good life. He walked the long stairway to Heaven to see my Grandpa Stuart and cartoonist Peter Woolcock to keep [them] company.”

Ms Outerbridge’s mother Elise added: “He was like her best friend — they would talk about vegetables and flowers and she would always come home and give me his political opinions and he was a real sweetheart.

“He was just one of those old Bermudians who was just absolutely dependable. He made her independent. He was just a kind, sweet responsible gentleman.”

Mr Swan’s wife Judith said that such kindness was typical of his character: “He was very caring; no one had an unkind word to say about him. That’s just the way he was — he would do anything for you and not look for anything in return.

“He was full of humility and very humble. He and Sarah just got on so well.

“As a husband he was gracious, attentive. He was a real source of comfort. We were like two peas in a pod and he loved his family.”

Mr Swan spent most of his career in the transport industry, previously driving the public buses and the airport bus during tourism’s heyday. He also spent time in the Bermuda Militia Artillery.

He later decided to move into the taxi industry and worked for Owen Darrell as a driver for 13 years.

Mr Darrell said: “The first word that comes to mind is he was extremely loyal and accommodating. He never complained. He was a go-with-the-flow kind of guy and always supportive. It’s a huge loss. He was almost like a grandfather figure to me. He did most of his work out of Front Street; he wasn’t a guy who was going to sit down the airport or sit at hotels for the most part. He was a guy that drove a lot of locals – the working class people in Hamilton.”

Ashton Vincent Swan was the son of the late Sinclair and Edna Swann, husband of Judith Swan, father of Valerie Swann, Pinky Wolffe (William), Dawnette Easton (Anthony), and step-father to Dana and Jay “Radagun” Philpott.