Masonic theme at Furze funeral

There was a strong Masonic emphasis at a funeral service for the Cayman banker Mr John Furze, held in George Town, Grand Cayman at the weekend.

One large wreath was an arrangement depicting two interconnecting compasses, the symbol of the Freemasons. With another wreath from Rotary International, it dominated the Church of God chapel altar during the service for the banker who up to recently controlled offshore accounts belonging to the former Taoiseach, Mr Charles Haughey.

Mr Furze died in a Miami hospital on Friday, July 25th, having suffered a heart attack. The former joint managing director of Ansbacher (Cayman Ltd) would have been a crucial witness for any future tribunal investigating the financial affairs of Mr Haughey.

He successfully opposed an application from the Dunnes payments to politicians tribunal that it be allowed hear evidence from him and other bankers on the Cayman Islands. That decision is currently being appealed.

The Saturday service was attended by former business associates of Mr Furze from overseas. Mr Furze, along with his fellow Cayman banker, Mr John Collins, and the late Mr Des Traynor, ran Cayman offshore accounts used by Irish residents which at one stage held £38 million.

The Irish banker, Mr Padraig Collery, who worked with Mr Furze in managing the so-called Ansbacher Deposits, was not in attendance.

A group of 24 male "honorary pallbearers" who took part in the service and which included businessmen, senior Caymanian politicians and members of the Cayman Rotary Club, included senior members of the local Masonic Lodge.

The group, according to one source, was noticeably "Caymanian" for a service for an ex-patriate. This was an indication of the unusual extent to which Mr Furze, who was born in Norwich, England, 55 years ago, had integrated himself in his adopted country.

The service was dominated by tributes read out by family and friends. The accents of the speakers, US, British and Caribbean, reflected the historical and geographical position of the islands, which form a "British Dependent Territory" south of Cuba.

Mr Barry Benjamin, a US citizen who ran an insurance and trust company business with Mr Furze, read out a tribute from the Honorable Mr McKeeva Bush OBE, JP, a member of the Legislative Assembly and of the Executive Council which runs the islands. Mr McKeeva Bush described Mr Furze as "among the best of persons who emigrated to the Cayman Islands".

Mr Furze is survived by his Austrian wife, Ingrid, the couple's three sons, who attend a US naval academy, and two sons from a previous marriage. During the service Mr Furze was repeatedly described by friends and family as a man of great generosity who lived life to the full and was a successful businessman, husband, father and friend.

The church pastor, the Rev Alson Ebanks, said he wished to remind the congregation that it was not such achievements that God asked for from those who wished to enter Heaven. Faith and belief in God were required of those who hoped for eternal happiness, he said.

After the service, a number of police cars escorted the cortege through central George Town and along the West Bay Road to West Bay Cemetry where Mr Furze's remains, which had been cremated in Miami, were interred.