Smith’s resident Gerald Lawrence has paid tribute to two of his siblings, after they died on consecutive days.

Carolyn Robinson passed away aged 82 in Texas on January 28, and David Lawrence passed away aged 83 in California on January 29. Both had been battling health problems.

Mr Lawrence, 77, remembered his older brother as a quiet and reserved man, who left Bermuda for the States decades ago and became a caterer after working at Kindley Air Force Base.

“David was extremely self-motivated,” he said. “You didn’t need to tell him to do what he needed to do, he just did it.”

Mr Lawrence called his sister, also a longtime US resident, a “woman of faith” and a “housekeeper extraordinaire”.

“Her home was her hobby.” he said, “and she ruled the roost because she was a woman of high moral standards. She passed those on to her four children, and she was proud of all of them.”

The retired insurance worker recalled that, although David struggled to visit Bermuda due to health difficulties, Carolyn would fly back to the island “at the drop of a hat”.

And, whenever one of the family’s dozen siblings visited Carolyn’s Houston home, they would always find a house which ran “in admirable order”.

“We’d find her at 3am, while everyone else was in bed — she’d be up doing what she needed to do, because she said it was better for her to get things done,” he said.

“No stone was left unturned, making sure everything was in its place.”

David Lawrence is survived by wife Joyce, son David Jr and stepdaughter Wilamae.

Carolyn Robinson is survived by her husband Arnold, sons Kevin, Troy and Mark, and daughter Terry Lynn.