TRIBUTES poured in last night for a prominent businessman who died of Covid-19 in Bahrain.
Frank Ryde, a long-time resident of the kingdom, had contracted coronavirus and was under treatment at Salmaniya Medical Complex.
In a Facebook post in May, his wife Deanne had said that she along with her husband and son Farrell had been infected with Covid-19.
Mr Ryde, who set up a string of businesses and employed scores of people, died due to multiple complications associated with the infectious disease.
The 63-year-old Sri Lankan had arrived in Bahrain in 1987 to work as a fire safety consultant at Jassim Trading.
In 1989, he founded his own company, Alpha Fire Services, offering specialist fire and security solutions.
A serial entrepreneur, he reportedly started his first business as a child barely out of high-school – and never looked back.
He also set up Alpha Fire Services in Sri Lanka, and was the company’s chief executive. He started firms for real estate and information services, among others.
Experience
Mr Ryde had more than 35 years of experience in fire protection, detection, containment and other aspects related to safety and security.
He was also an avid nature lover and amateur photographer. His fascination with bees turned him into a staunch advocate of apitherapy in which honey bee products are used for medicinal purposes.
He claimed the bee therapy could cure ailments such as rheumatism, arthritis and skin ulcers.
At one point he had more than 50,000 bees in the garden of his home in Sehla, besides the hundreds more he had back home on his estate in the heartlands of Sri Lanka.
Mr Ryde will be remembered fondly as a family man, a beekeeper, an apitherapist, a philanthropist, cricketer and wildlife photography enthusiast.
“He was an icon and a self-made personality, born with a blessing to be a guardian for more than 500 families in fire and safety in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka,” Ace Dynamics Trading project director Samir Jaiswal told the GDN.
Ace Dynamics Trading was one of the companies started by Mr Ryde.
“He was the founder of more than five companies and gave jobs to several people. The world will always remember him for who he is.”
Close family friend Kathleen Wolf also remembered Mr Ryde fondly.
“Frank was a family-oriented person who was very enthusiastic and always a lovely person to be around,” the 55-year-old Sri Lankan told the GDN.
“He never failed to carry his castanets to any party and joined the band to entertain the crowd.
“I started loving bees because of Frank; as a little child I was stung by bees.”
Mr Ryde, who had been an apitherapist for 47 years, partnered with Dr David Churches, a particulate science and capillary fluid flows expert, to create a honey-coated micro-fibre mask to replace regular face masks and help solve a growing environmental waste concern, as well as limiting the spread of Covid-19.
The two Bahrain-based entrepreneurs collaborated to create a biodegradable filtration system to protect wearers and offer a green solution.
Mr Ryde was a member of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Institution of Fire Engineers (UK), and even provided consultancy services to companies in Saudi Arabia and Sri Lanka.
He was an active member of the community and in 2004 with the help of Sri Lankans in Bahrain formed groups to deliver aid to his countrymen hit by the tsunami.
Mr Ryde is survived by wife Deanne, aged 59, and sons Darren, 36, and Farrell, 30.
The funeral will be held in Sri Lanka.
sandy@gdn.com.bh
&uuid=(email))