KEY POINTS:
The motto for Papakura's Edmund Hillary Primary School is a simple one the great man lived by: Be Determined, Aim High.
And towering over the words is a picture of Mt Everest, the mountain which immortalised Sir Edmund's name.
Previously known as Papakura East School, the school - which has a present roll of 160 - was renamed in 1964 in honour of the district's most famous son, who was brought up in Tuakau.
Rongo De Baugh, who in 1964 was a young teacher in her early twenties at the school, said Sir Edmund's influence on the school's pupils had been immeasurable.
"I think the motto was the best and most simple way to describe Sir Edmund's feat and it meant a lot to the children here," she said.
Ms De Baugh, who taught at the school from 1963 to 1998 but has recently retired, was yesterday among the staff who were preparing for the school year while reminiscing over old photographs and memories of Sir Edmund.
One of Ms De Baugh's favourite memories was the time when Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was introduced to cream puffs during the school's renaming ceremony at which the Hillary and Norgay families planted trees throughout the school grounds.
"Sir Ed said, 'Tenzing try this, you eat them like this'. He showed him how to eat them but Tenzing still ended up having cream all over his face."
"The whole place just cracked up."
The 66-year-old said despite his schedule Sir Edmund would always take time to visit pupils at the school, often carrying mementoes of his journeys to the Himalayas.
"He came often and would always drop in to talk with us and the children and parents. We always felt he was a part of our school and our community.
"He would bring things back from Nepal like his ropes and ice axes and show them to the children - they were always fascinated by his stories," she said.
"I think he had a real appreciation for the Sherpa people, he really loved them."
Ms De Baugh said the children always found Sir Ed an "easy and lovely man to talk to".
"He was never a selfish man, he was a real gentleman and we will miss him."
With his health failing in recent years the visits became less frequent and the school's invitations to Sir Edmund had to be turned down.
The school's principal, Kataraina Nock, said in her two years there Sir Ed had been unable to make any of the functions he had been invited to.
"It was a shame because we would have certainly loved to have had him with us."
Meanwhile, the flag was flying at half mast outside Auckland Grammar School yesterday as the school mourned the loss of old boy Sir Ed.
Principal John Morris said although Sir Ed was well-known as a Grammar old boy, he didn't often visit. But he said an assembly Sir Ed fronted in 1998 was among the best the school had ever seen.
"He had that sort of humility and the self-deprecating attitude that he had was quite amazing.
"I think the legacy for our pupils is well and truly there and it reminded the boys of the contributions and achievements he made."
