MR. BRUCE ISMAY

A correspondent writes:---

Will you permit me to supplement the articles concerning the late Bruce
Ismay, which have already appeared in your columns, by the publication
of a short personal tribute by an old friend?

In the world at large Bruce Ismay may possibly have appeared as a
somewhat austere and taciturn man, as has been suggested, but to his
devoted family and to the circle of his intimate friends he was known to
be the possessor of all the attributes of a most vivid and lovable
personality; interested in a wide range of subjects and gifted with a
delightfully keen sense of humour, his companionship was at all times a
thing to be greatly valued. Of a reserved and cxtremely sensitive
nature, he shrank from exposing to the world the kindness and sympathy
which were in him, and no one but those very close to him was permitted
to be aware of his innumerable kindly and generous actions. Of
outstanding physique, he excelled naturally at every form of sport; a
first-rate shot, especially at high pheasants, and a first-class
fisherman, he yielded to no one in the higher ethics of sportsmanship in
the finest sense of the word. In later years his heart was in the
wonderful sporting estate which he owned in Galway, with its superb
fishing; but keen fisherman as he was, he still had time to spare for
the wants of the needy inhabitants of that part of the country, and
there must be many there who are sorrowing very greatly at his passing
and who will maintain a deeply affectionate memory of "his Honour " for
many years to come. His passing leaves a blank in the hearts, not only
of his devoted family, but of those of his many friends who were able to
appreciate the sterling and lovable qualities which he possessed.