KEY POINTS:
Countless lives have been touched by the story of the beekeeper who stood on top of the world - and countless more have been affected by the humanitarian work of the humble Kiwi bloke.
As news of Sir Edmund Hillary's death spread, tributes came from around the globe and from every walk of life.
From the Prime Minister to a little boy who telephoned Sir Ed out of the blue and got help with a school project, they had a personal word to say.
From a community in the shadow of Mt Everest to the ice of the Antarctic, they wanted to say goodbye.
Helen Clark led the tributes when she announced a "profound loss to New Zealand".
She said the best-known New Zealander to have ever lived always described himself as an average bloke.
"In reality, he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who not only knocked off Everest but lived a life of determination, humility, and generosity," she said.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown echoed the sentiment, describing Sir Ed as "a truly great hero who captured the imagination of the world".
In Nepal, Ang Rita Sherpa, chief administrator of the Himalayan Trust, said Sir Ed was "my right-hand man", and the greatest honour and respect that could be paid would be the continuation of his work in Nepal.
Manohar Shreftha, president of the New Zealand Nepal Society, said the community had "lost a true friend."
Elizabeth Hawley QSM, Nepal's honorary consul to New Zealand, said it was a "very great loss for New Zealand and the world, and a particularly great loss for the Sherpa people".
Norbu Tenzing Norgay, vice-president of the American Himalayan Foundation and son of Tenzing Norgay said both his father and Sir Ed were more proud of the work they completed after conquering Everest.
Those who climbed with Sir Ed remembered a man whose shadow they were proud to stand in.
Graeme Dingle struggled to put the loss of his longtime friend Sir Ed into words. "He was a great human mirror of who we are, or who we like to think we are," he said.
George Lowe, a long-term friend, said from Britain last night: "A great loss and, as you can see, I do cry."
Photographer Greg Gregory, who accompanied Sir Edmund on the Everest expedition, described him as a "top character".
But it is in his own country where Sir Ed will be most keenly missed. Flags flew at half-mast yesterday and a series of memorials were being planned. The Herald website was flooded with messages.
John Dickie, 59, who as a young boy lived next door, knew his neighbour was extraordinary but "there was nothing extraordinary about him as a next door neighbour. You could go down and have a chat with him, we'd chatted about all sorts of things".
Rongo De Baugh, a teacher at Papakura's Edmund Hillary Primary School from the 1960s to late 1990s said: "He was never a selfish man, he was a real gentleman and we will miss him."
He will also be remembered by Ollie Bradshaw who found Sir Ed's phone number and called him out of the blue for help with a school project.
"The fact I could call up the greatest New Zealander out of the blue and he had the time to yarn to a 14-year-old pretty much sums the guy up," he said.
And from the common man to those in New Zealand corridors of power.
"Sir Edmund was a role model for all New Zealanders," said National Leader John Key. "His legendary story as both a humanitarian and adventurer has been, and will continue to be, inspirational to generations."
