A Sandys resident who doggedly threw his hat in the political ring as an independent candidate, including in the recent General Election when he contested Sandys North Central, is being remembered for his larger than life personality.

Eugene Brangman’s prominent home on West Side Road, at the junction with Somerset Road, became a landmark in his community.

The 74-year-old former schoolteacher, who passed this week, was a self-employed painter. He decorated his walls with sayings that ranged in theme from religious and political to humorous.

Mr Brangman was devoted to the West End and turned out for public events from the 2016 demonstrations outside Parliament over immigration reform to sports.

He was outspoken on politics and repeatedly ran as an independent. He also caught attention for his green thumb and turned his property into a miniature farm that became the envy of many.

Jamahl Simmons, the Progressive Labour Party MP for Sandys South, recalled being struck by Mr Brangman’s gardening creativity as well as his political zeal.

Mr Simmons said: “He once called me and summoned me to his house because of a constituency matter he wanted to deal with. Even though he was not my constituent, he insisted that I had to come and see him.

“When I got there, after we talked about his issue, he showed me his garden. The man was a gardening prodigy — a genius.

“The creativity and maximising of the small space was simply brilliant. I hope that his knowledge is written down or somehow passed on because he was doing impressive things in that tiny space.”

Mr Simmons ran as an independent candidate in February against fellow independent Christopher Bean, Rodrae Durrant, of the One Bermuda Alliance, and Dennis Lister, of the PLP.

Mr Lister won with 346 votes; followed by Mr Bean, with 168 votes; Mr Durrant, with 101 votes; and Mr Brangman with five votes.

Mr Simmons said the “electoral fate was not kind to him” but said Mr Brangman was undaunted by his prospects ahead of the polls.

“Just before the election, I saw him and he said to me, ‘Look — when I get elected, I want you to join up with me’.”

When Mr Simmons ventured that his own success in the polls could not be assumed, Mr Brangman declared otherwise.

“I want you to be part of the team — we’re going to form a party,” he said.

Asked who would lead the party, Mr Brangman replied: “Me, of course.”

In 2022, a portrait of Mr Brangman by photographer Meredith Andrews won a place in a major international touring exhibition, Portrait of Humanity, as part of a worldwide competition run by 1854 Media and the British Journal of Photography.

Her photograph, Brangman, was among 30 entries on show and became one of her two photographs to be included in a book of shortlisted entries.

Mr Brangman, who was presented with a copy of the book, was happy with its performance.

Ms Andrews recalled: “I think he had a healthy ego. He was pleased about it.”

She said: “I am a portrait photographer who does a lot of street photography — I spent time working at the Gazette so I would go all over the island, be everywhere.

“Just meeting people on the street and photographing them is probably my favourite thing to do.

“My sister used to live on West Side Road, so for years I have driven past and seen his entertaining displays on his home. Also on this little plot of land, he would grow so much.

“Every time I’d come by, I would wave to him.”

Ms Andrews recalled passing by during the Covid-19 pandemic and being struck by sayings painted on the property that included “Jesus Santa Rudolph — all made up.”

She said: “He was Bermuda-centric, Somerset-centric and Brangman-centric.”

Ms Andrews added that Mr Brangman’s public persona put him squarely in a tradition of colourful and highly visible Bermudian characters.

She likened it to the well-wishing of commuters by the late Johnny Barnes, or the neighbourhood tradition of posting tributes and news on the roadside by Loyal Hill as the Loyal Gazette.

Ms Andrews described him as “this kind of Bermudian character that we have when people are really their own person and expressing themselves as such, even if just by writing on their walls”.

She said that, when approached about his portrait, Mr Brangman was “welcoming, very friendly with me — in the years afterward, I couldn’t drive past the yard without saying hello”.