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New Zealand Pays Homage to Heroic Hillary

Posted Jan 22, 08 10:58 CST in World 

(Newser) – New Zealand paid tribute to its most famous native son today as throngs lined the streets of Auckland for the state funeral of Sir Edmund Hillary, the New Zealand Herald reports. The prime minister led the tributes. "Sir Ed described himself as a person of modest abilities," said Helen Clark. "In reality he was a colossus, he was our hero."

Thousands more watched on open-air screens around the country as dignitaries, family, mountaineers, and monks bade farewell and praised the life and work of Hillary, the first person to summit Mount Everest. "While we mourn his loss, his spirit will forever live and protect the great mountain and the people he loved so much," said the son of his Sherpa climbing partner.  
Sources: New Zealand Herald, BBC

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The casket of Sir Edmund Hillary is carried from the Auckland Cathedral of the Holy Trinity to St. Mary's Church in preparation for his funeral in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008. New Zealanders...   (Associated Press)
The casket bearing Sir Edmund Hillary is carried to St. Mary's Church in Auckland, New Zealand, Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2008. New Zealanders mourned Tuesday at a state funeral for Mount Everest conqueror and...   (Associated Press)
The Very Reverend Ross Bay, left, Prime Minister Helen Clark, Lady June Hillary and The Very Reverend Peter Beck walk into St. Mary's Church for the state funeral of Sir Edmund Hillary in Auckland, New...   (Associated Press)
A Nepalese sherpa women lights lamps during a public memorial service to pay tributes to Sir Edmund Hillary at a monastery in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, Jan. 14, 2008. Nepal's Sherpa community held a prayer...   (Associated Press)
Sir Edmund Hillary's casket is carried into the Auckland Cathedral of the Holy Trinity where he will lie in state until the state funeral in Auckland, New Zealand, Monday, Jan. 21, 2008. The state funeral...   (Associated Press)
New Zealand's Sir Edmund Hillary makes a speech during the 50th Anniversary of Scott Base celebration, at Scott Base, Antarctica, in this Jan. 20, 2007 file photo. Hillary, the unassuming beekeeper who...   (Associated Press)
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