FORMER Cabinet minister, physician, and sports leader Dr Norman Gay died on Saturday, drawing tributes from across the political divide for his decades of service to The Bahamas in medicine, politics, and athletics.

Dr Gay, who hailed from United Estates, San Salvador, represented Bain Town in Parliament after succeeding Sir Milo Butler, the country’s first Governor General. He served as both Minister of Health and Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, and was remembered for his advocacy of healthier lifestyles and his leadership in sport.

Free National Movement chairman Dr Duane Sands expressed condolences on behalf of the party and paid personal tribute to Dr Gay as a fellow physician. “He helped many Bahamians through his medical profession and advocacy for healthier living,” Dr Sands said, describing him as a pioneer in drawing attention to the risks of poor diets, unhealthy lifestyles, and non-communicable diseases long before they were widely recognised.

Dr Sands highlighted his achievements as a medical professional, noting that he trained at the Canadian Union Medical School and Loma Linda University in California and later earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Miami. He served at Princess Margaret Hospital and ran a longstanding private practice, and was known for promoting natural medicine, healthy living, and research into metabolics.

Beyond medicine, Dr Gay left a mark on Bahamian sports. He was president of the Bahamas Volleyball Federation, the Bahamas Bodybuilding Federation, the Caribbean Bodybuilding Federation, the Bahamas Olympic Committee, and the Bahamas Confederation of Amateur Sports. He also chaired the Bahamas Boxing Commission and launched the Bahamas Anti-Aging Institute.

Progressive Liberal Party chairman Fred Mitchell also expressed condolences on behalf of the governing party. “He is remembered with fondness by the Bain Town community and for his devotion to duty as a minister,” he said. “The sporting community will remember his advocacy of boxing in particular.”

Mr Mitchell noted the historical significance of Dr Gay’s election in 1973, stepping into the Bain Town seat after Sir Milo Butler’s appointment as Governor General in the wake of independence. “Norman Gay stepped up to the plate, first serving as head of the back bench caucus and then as a minister,” he said.

Both parties described him as a man whose contributions spanned politics, medicine, and athletics, leaving a lasting imprint on the country.