Robert Hamilton Wright, or Bob, as he was better known. A Telegraph picture

Tollygunge Club was in mourning on Tuesday. There were motley groups of golfers on the greens, but the crowds flocked around the home that Bob and Anne Wright had shared till this day. Most filed past his body on the bed, surrounded by flowers.

Born in Calcutta, 80-year-old Robert Hamilton Wright, better known as Bob, died of a heart attack on Tuesday morning, in the Tolly apartment he fondly used to call his penthouse.

The man synonymous with the club is survived by wife Anne, 76, and daughter Belinda, 52. His body will be cremated on Wednesday morning, and his ashes buried at Bhowanipore Cemetery on Saturday. There will be a memorial service at St Paul?s Cathedral on Sunday.

?He had a great life,? smiled Belinda, with tears in her eyes, on Tuesday evening, as friends and well-wishers poured in. ?It?s the end of an era.?

Her words were echoed by M.J. Robertson, who had taken over the Tollygunge Club reins after Wright called it a day in 1997: ?An era has ended with his passing away.?

Wife Anne could say little, wiping away her tears: ?There?s been a traffic jam of people all day... He was born in Calcutta you know, in Lalbazar.?

Mother and daughter flew in from Delhi on Tuesday, where Anne had gone to see Belinda receive an environmental award on April 8.

?Everyone?s shocked. It?s almost like the club is closed. Even the sweepers and cleaning ladies came by to see my father. Some people heard about it when they came to the club and dropped by. He was in fine form even yesterday. It happened when he went to get a glass of juice this morning. The staff found him. Dad had been unwell? He was broken-hearted when his Golden Labrador, Becky, died,? said Belinda.

Bob and Anne ran a retreat for animals in the Kanha reserve in Madhya Pradesh, called Kipling?s Camp. Bob was honoured with an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, in 1988. An able administrator, he headed many social causes, including Dr Graham?s Homes, the Eastern India Charitable Trust, the War Graves Committee and the UK Citizens? Association.

The Tolly is what it is for Bob Wright, felt Ashok Dutt, former president of the institution and a veteran on the city?s club circuit.

?Bob was largely responsible for converting Tolly from just a weekend place to the country?s premier family and social club. I haven?t come across a better manager and today, wherever you look, his touch is everywhere at the Tolly,? observed Dutt, who had been closely associated with Wright, not only at the Tolly, but also at an earlier workplace.

?Bob has left his influence in every corner of this club and we owe it to him for seeing it through troubled times in the 70s,? said present CEO & managing member Air Commodore K.B. Menon.

?He was going to create history, or at least he thought so. He was going to be the first person with dual citizenship, of the UK and India. The paperwork was almost done. It would have been amazing, bridging the gap like that,? sighed Belinda.