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HERBERT "BERT" KILBRIDE

March 8, 1914 - January 8, 2008

Herbert "Bert" Kilbride, age 93, died in Etna CA on January 8, 2008.
He was born March 8, 1914 in Springfield MA, to the late Thomas and
Sylvia Duquette Kilbride. Bert moved to South Florida in 1945 and was
in the construction business. He moved to St. Croix, USVI, in 1956
and moved to the British Virgin Islands (BVI) in1964, living there
until 2005.

Bert called himself the Last Pirate of the Caribbean! He has been a
diver for almost a century and a treasure seeker for over 5 decades.
He was an inventor, a builder, a contractor, and an entrepreneur. He
had bought and developed two barren islands and owned a SCUBA diving
tour business for 30 years. In the 1960's he created the "Resort
Course" for the beginners interested in SCUBA diving. It is now
taught worldwide under the name "Introductory SCUBA Course." In 1987
he was awarded the NOGI Award for SPORTS/EDUCATION for the creation of
the resort course. He was made the "Receiver of Wrecks" by Queen
Elizabeth in 1967 and called a "Pirate" by others in the BVI
Government when he would not produce a map of the shipwrecks he had
found on Anegada Reef (138 wrecks). In the 1990's, the governor of
the BVI called him a "Living Legend" in his speech on the radio. In
2004, for his 90th birthday, Guinness Book of World Records proclaimed
him the "Oldest Scuba Diver" in the world.

Bert is survived by his wife of 20 years, Gayla, his sons Gary, Burt, Michael,
Patrick (wife Linda), James (wife Susan), Tyrel Kilbride and step-son,
Dan Valls; daughters, Ellen Christopher and Jeanie Mesler;
grandchildren Patrick, Christina, Kathleen, Maureen, Ryan (wife
Catlin), Katie, Jacob, Shaun and Dylan Kilbride, Lloyd Christopher,
Bryan and Kimberly Mesler and Kelly (husband Jorge) Nunez;
great-grandchildren Ben Vennard, Brianna Marshall, Spencer
Christopher, Sean, Christopher and Kailyn Nunez; his brother, George
Kilbride; and his sister, Sylvia O'Connor. He is further survived by
numerous nieces and nephews and their families, other relatives and
many friends. In addition to his parents, his brother Everett
preceded him in death.

There was a "Celebration Of His Life" held on March 9, 2008 in the South Florida area. For further

And a "Gathering of His Friends" on Saba Rock in the British Virgin Islands in the late afternoon on his birthday March 8th, 2008.

In lieu of flowers please make donations to the BVI Humane Society

Click on the following button to donate online

Or send your checks or money orders to:

Humane Society of the BVI

P O Box 190

Road Town, Tortola

British Virgin Islands

Visit their website at:
http://www.bvihumanesociety.org