Former Governor Gore passes away

Michael Gore, who served as governor of the Cayman Islands from 1992 to 1995, has passed away. He was 86 years old.

Premier Wayne Panton, in a statement issued Friday, about the former governor’s death, said the Union Flag and the Cayman Islands Flag are being flown at half-mast today as a mark of respect.

“Mr. Gore was a dear friend to the people of the Cayman Islands and served these Islands well,” Panton said. “He will certainly be missed.”

The former governor passed away on Thursday night, 7 July.

In his statement, Panton noted that Gore, in his first Throne Speech, in 1993, had said, “Cayman is one of the more fortunate countries in the world with a standard of living and, perhaps even more important, a quality of life second to none. I should like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the churches of all denominations who look after our spiritual well-being and serve the community in so many ways, to the voluntary organisations who look after those less able to look after themselves or concern themselves in areas which are outside the scope of Government, and to all residents who contribute to make the Cayman Islands such a wonderful place in which to live.”

Gore was the governor when Queen Elizabeth II visited Cayman in 1994, when she knighted former Financial Secretary Vassel Johnson, Cayman’s first knight, and opened the Ed Bush Sports Complex in West Bay.

Panton said Gore’s contributions to Cayman were “immense”, adding, “we remember him when we observe the Governor Michael Gore Bird Sanctuary, which contains the freshwater marshes of the Spotts-Newlands area which is a roosting and breeding habitat for several freshwater bird species.”

Cayman’s current governor, Martyn Roper, said he was “very saddened” to hear of Gore’s passing.

In his statement. Roper paid tribute to Gore’s environmentalism, saying, “Governor Gore was passionate about the environment and biodiversity. As a keen birder he was instrumental in securing the land which is now Governor Michael Gore’s Bird Sanctuary in Spotts which is owned by the National Trust for the Cayman Islands and serves as an urban oasis for waterfowl and other birds. He also opened the boardwalk at Tarpon Lake on Little Cayman in 1995.”