Everest Conqueror Hillary Makes Last Journey
complete article:
http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSSYD5280620080122?sp=true
AUCKLAND (Reuters) - Saffron-robed Buddhist monks, Nepali Sherpas and grey-bearded mountaineers paid homage on Tuesday to Sir Edmund Hillary, the man who conquered Everest, as thousands gathered in New Zealand to watch his state funeral.
"His loss to us is bigger and heavier than Mount Everest," Ang Rita Sherpa told the service in a small church in Auckland.
"He is our true guardian and our second father, but he has left us behind today," he said.
The funeral of the first man to reach the summit of the world's highest mountain was, in keeping with the man himself, modest, with 600 family, friends and dignitaries in the church.
Hillary's coffin was draped in the New Zealand flag, cream-colored Nepali prayer scarves, and Hillary's climbing axe and specially carved walking stick.
"We mourn as a nation because we know we're saying goodbye to a friend," Prime Minister Helen Clark told the service.
Among those attending the funeral was the son of Tenzing Norgay, the Nepali sherpa who accompanied Hillary to Everest's 8,850 meter (29,035 feet) summit.
"While we mourn his loss, his spirit will forever live and protect the great mountain and the people he loved so much," said Norbu Tenzing Norgay.
