Sir Edmund Percival Hillary (20 July 1919 – 11 January 2008)

Sir Edmund Percival Hillary was a New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Sherpa mountaineer, Tenzing Norgay, became the first climbers confirmed to have reached the summit of Mount Everest. They were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest, led by John Hunt. From 1985 to 1988 he served as New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India and Bangladesh and concurrently as Ambassador to Nepal.

 

Alan and Harriet Lewis first became acquainted with Sir Edmund and Lady June in 1992, shortly after Grand Circle Foundation was established. Through the Foundation, the Lewis’s donated to Sir Edmund’s Himalayan Trust Nepal (HTN), which, since its inception in 1960, has helped to establish two hospitals, 13 health clinics, more than 30 schools, two airstrips, and more for the once-impoverished Himalayan people.

 

Over the years, Sir Edmund Hillary became a close, personal friend of the Lewis Family and he was an honorary board member of Grand Circle Foundation. It was Hillary’s unselfish capacity to move beyond his celebrity to focus on the less fortunate that inspired us to put his name to our Sir Edmund Hillary Club.

 

We began this club not just to reward the well-traveled, but to recognize those travelers who reflect the same generous nature and adventurous spirit of a very special individual—someone who also just happened to be one of the greatest adventurers of the 20th century.

 

Grand Circle and the Lewis Family are grateful to Sir Edmund for his profound effect on our business, our world, and its adventurers.