Adam Zacharias

Mourners packed the Anglican Cathedral yesterday to pay their last respects to Clarence James, the trailblazing former surgeon general and Deputy Premier.

Family, friends and colleagues shared their tributes to Dr James, who died on Saturday aged 84, during the two-hour service in Hamilton.

Michael Dunkley praised Dr James for pushing through mandatory motorcycle helmet legislation in 1974, when he was Minister of Transportation for the United Bermuda Party.

“In the five years before the legislation, Bermuda was averaging more than 17 deaths a year, mostly due to severe head injuries,” the Premier said.

“In the five years that followed, that average fell by half. Lives saved and lives lived — is there a more meaningful achievement?”

Mr Dunkley also hailed Dr James as “a man of exemplary character” who mixed idealism and pragmatism to help Bermuda become a more tolerant, egalitarian society.

“He stands as one of the great Bermudians of his time — a man who devoted his life to helping others live in health and harmony,” he added.

Dr James’s daughter Joanne Thain thanked attendees for “coming and sharing a celebration of my father’s life”.

She shared a few humorous anecdotes, such as her father’s love-hate relationships with dogs — which peaked when a family pet pushed him into the swimming pool — and his insistence on playing Handel’s Messiah at the family’s home in Smith’s every Christmas and Easter.

Mrs Thain also remembered her father’s consistent personality — such as his daily visits to Speciality Inn for breakfast, and Sunday trips to pick up The New York Times from the Phoenix store, where he would also buy his children Cracker Jacks and Life Savers candy.

Sir John Swan, who was Premier throughout Dr James’s stint as Deputy Premier from 1983 to 1989, said that his friend and former colleague “had such a profound effect on Bermuda”.

“He was so studious, he had to perfect everything he did. There was no shortcut,” Sir John said.

“He had no malice whatsoever. His heart and spirit should rest in each and every one of us.”

Reading an obituary submitted by the James family, former UBP MP Cyril Rance recalled his one-time colleague’s love of golf and Cup Match,

He also spoke of the “deep and unconditional love” shared between Dr James and his wife Shirley. The couple married in 1958 and had three children together.

James King spoke on behalf of Bermuda’s medical community about the achievements of Dr James, who was the island’s first black surgeon and served as the Bermuda Hospitals Board’s most senior physician as chief of staff from 1995 to 1998.

Although conceding that he had professional disagreements on occasion with Dr James, Dr King said that it had been “a pleasure” to work alongside him.

“Whatever he said, you could trust — because in the morning his answer was always the same as the evening before.”

Charles Webbe from Abercorn Lodge talked about Dr James’s time as a Freemason during the service, referring to him as “a most excellent companion”.

“With the passing of Clarence, a light has gone out of our lives,” he said.