They were both married to great New Zealanders who have helped change the world, so it’s no surprise that Lady June Hillary and have plenty in common.
The wife of Sir Edmund Hillary, who conquered Mt Everest, and the wife of eye specialist Fred Hollows, who worked to restore eyesight to thousands in the developing world, are dedicated to upholding their late husbands’ admirable legacies.
Sir Edmund and Fred first met during a climbing expedition on Mt Cook and their friendship paved the way for Sir Ed’s support of Fred Hollows’ efforts to end avoidable blindness, becoming the patron of The Fred Hollows Foundation in New Zealand.
Lady Hillary and Gabi met almost 30 years ago when the Kiwis visited Fred and Gabi at their home in Sydney. And the pair had plenty of catching up to do when they reunited in New Zealand earlier this month, to commemorate Fred’s death and launch a new mobile eye clinic in Fiji.
Though there is a 20-year age difference between them, having husbands who were both mountain climbers and were in the public eye gave Lady Hillary and Gabi a special bond.
Fred Hollows and Sir Edmund Hillary pictured together in 1992.
Lady Hillary shared some helpful advice with Gabi during their first meeting. “I remember June saying to me, ‘Never, ever send off your husband’s jacket to the dry-cleaners without checking the pockets because there’s always a cheque in the envelope there that someone’s tucked in’,” recalls Gabi with a smile.
Sir Ed was New Zealand-born Fred’s hero when he was a young mountaineer – Fred even offered to carry his backpack during their climb in the South Island. “It was so heavy, Fred literally crumpled at the knees, but he was very brave,” says Gabi, who also felt a special affinity with the Kiwi hero.
Gabi was born the same week that Sir Ed and Tenzing Norgay conquered Mt Everest in 1953. “I never knew that years later I would get to meet him and have this special connection with him and June.”
It’s been five years since Sir Edmund’s death. He and June were married by friend Dame Catherine Tizard in 1989 at Sir Ed’s home in Auckland. The couple did everything together, and at one point the climber thanked his second wife for healing his heartbreak following the death of his first wife Louise in an aeroplane crash in 1975.
“When my long friendship with June blossomed into a much warmer relationship, I learned to live and love again. What a fortunate person I have been,” he said.
During their happy marriage, Lady Hillary says she was content to let her husband shine. “People would be crowding round Ed wanting autographs, and I’d be on the outside and people would ask, ‘What’s it like being married to a man like Sir Ed?’ I would smile and say, ‘This is what it’s like.’”
But Lady Hillary says taking a supporting role was never a problem. “They were so busy and on the go all the time. I just did what had to be done and not just because of who they were.”
”I never knew I would have this special connection with June,” says Gabi.
She deeply misses her husband but her grief has eased over time and she is now looking forward to the birth of her second great-grandchild.
“It’s been hard but it’s also been a very busy five years and I’ve just been getting on with it really. I’m all right,” she says.
Gabi was married to Fred for 13 years, but his life was cut tragically short when he died of renal cancer in 1993 aged 63, leaving behind his children Cam, Emma, Anna-Louise and twins Ruth and Rosa.
Gabi married lawyer John Balazs three years later, but has continued Fred’s legacy with the foundation in her role as founding director.
For 50 years, Lady Hillary also played an active role in Sir Edmund’s Himalayan Trust in Nepal, to help provide health and education, but now limits herself to voluntary and charity work. “I don’t do as much these days but I do what I can.”
For more information on The Fred Hollows Foundation or to make a donation visit: hollows.org.nz/ or phone 0800 227 229.
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