Having found it to his liking, he later moved on to Progressive High, where he began showing a keen interest in the area of business, to the extent that he took up studies in such subjects as Book-keeping and Shorthand, which latter was unheard of among his gender.

This preoccupation with economic matters, however, was to come in useful later in life, when he became first Finance Minister (1970 - 1972) and subsequently Minister of Economic Development (1974 - 1980) during the then People's National Congress (PNC) administration under its founder-leader, the late Forbes Burnham.

On leaving Progressive in 1948 at the height of the Second World War, Hoyte entered the Civil Service, where he first served as a Commodity Control Officer, which office was responsible for the granting of import/export licences, and later as a clerk in the Police Pay Office.

He later switched to teaching, taking up appointments both here and in Grenada, to which Caribbean Island he migrated in 1955, and where he taught Latin and History at the prestigious Grenada Boys' Secondary.

His mind still on a career in Management, which was his first calling, he initially applied to the University of New Brunswick in Canada to pursue studies in Business Administration, but such was the respect he had for Sir Donald Jackson, he allowed the older man to persuade him to switch to law instead.

A career change he never regretted, Hoyte was admitted into private practice here in the then British Guiana in 1960, soon after graduating from the University of London.

It was around this same time, too, that his interest in politics first piqued, though it was not until 1968 that he was to formally become active politically, at the instigation of Burnham, who was also instrumental in his coming out of private practice and joining the prestigious local law firm, Clarke and Martin.

As a candidate on the PNC’s slate when that party successfully contested the general elections of December 16, 1968, Hoyte’s legal career was temporarily put on hold as he now had other duties to which to attend, such as those coming under his portfolio as Home Affairs Minister, and later Works and Communications Minister, in which capacity he served from 1969 to 1970, and from 1972 to 1974 respectively, until his appointment in August 1984 as Prime Minister and First Vice-President.

It was during this latter tenure that he almost lost his wife, Joyce, to a vehicular smash-up on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway on April 30, 1985, which claimed the lives of both of his children, Maxine Gillian (18) and Janice Amanda (16), his sister-in-law, Ms Gwendoline DeFreitas, and much later their chauffeur, M. Sydney McIntosh.

The girls, their mother and aunt were travelling to the mining township of Linden, a known PNC stronghold, to be by Hoyte’s side as he delivered the feature address at the traditional May Day Rally there the following day, May 1.

Always low-key in spite of having an illustrious career, it was this incident which first drew Hoyte to the attention of the public, when he stoically insisted that he was fully capable of carrying out his duties and proceeded to do so without a break in his voice, thereby drawing a multitude of comments, many of which were, characteristically, less than charitable.

This same strength of character was to again surface months later when, upon receiving news of Burnham’s death, at the age of 62, under rather unusual circumstances during the course of what was to be a simple throat operation at the then Public Hospital Georgetown (PHG), he calmly proceeded to appoint then Vice-President, Social Infrastructure, Mr. Hamilton Green, as his successor as Prime Minister and First Vice-President.

This was immediately after his being sworn in as President of the Republic of Guyana by then Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Keith Massiah, on August 6, 1985, the very day Burnham died at around 10:45hrs.

Such was the calm with which he carried out his duties, it was reported in the Daily Chronicle the following day: “The well-oiled State and Party machinery turned quickly and smoothly, and by 14:15hrs when Cde Hoyte officially informed the nation about Cde Burnham’s death in a live broadcast ……Minority Leader, Dr Cheddi Jagan, and Leader of the United Force, Mr. Fielden Singh, had been summoned and officially informed.”

The report continued: “In the midst of the sense of grief, shock and great loss amongst the nation’s political leadership, there was much evidence of a high level of political maturity, and of a firm but quiet resolve to continue the struggle of which Cde Burnham had been architect for over two decades.”

Asked about his preparedness for assuming his new role as President, Hoyte was quoted as saying: ”I must confess that it was not a responsibility that I would have wished for myself. Through the accident of fate, it has evolved upon me.”

He served in this capacity until his defeat at the polls on October 5, 1992.

Among other positions he held during his lifetime were: Chairman of the Legal Practitioners’ Committee, a statutory body which deals with disciplinary matters relating to members of the legal profession; Chairman of the Timber Grants Wages Council; Chairman of the Customs Tariff Appeals Tribunal; and Legal Adviser to the Guyana Trades Union Congress (TUC).