The East Otago-raised 43-year-old, who succumbed to cancer after a courageous battle, had worked for the company for 20 years, originally as a guide and then head guide on the Milford Track.
After a few more years he became Ultimate Hikes’ guide manager, looking after both the Milford and Routeburn guided walks, then in 2016 he became operations manager and 2IC to Noel Saxon.
Despite that, he’d "jump at the chance to get his guiding uniform and backpack and boots on again, and out he’d go", Saxon says — Shaun guided more than 300 Milford walks and more than 150 Routeburns.
His boss says "we’re devastated, he was such an integral part of our team".
"Shaun had a natural attraction just to the area, Fiordland, and the tracks and the bush, he was really knowledgeable about the flora, the fauna, the history, the geography.
"He was also a real people person who got on with everyone, you wouldn’t find anyone who had a bad word to say about him.
"He had to deal with all sorts of stuff that was thrown at him, and had a great, calm way about him."
Saxon says away from his job, Shaun’s family was a huge part of his life — he’s survived by Mel, whom he met on the track, and young children Tom and Harriet.
In an Instagram post, Mel says Shaun — also known to many as Seamus — "leaves behind an inspiring legacy that we are determined to remember and make him proud".
A memorial service was held last Friday.
Two other locals pass
Many Queenstowners were rocked by the deaths of two popular locals, Richard Lee and Terry Trowman, last weekend.
- Richard moved from Invercargill with his wife Robyn in 1982, initially managing Remarkable Motors before they ran the Caltex service station from 1992, selling the business in 2019 but keeping the land and buildings.
He’d had a private pilot’s licence from ’73 and was New Zealand aerobatic champion in ’75, then much later served as president of the Wakatipu Aero Club.
Married for 44 years, Richard and Robyn, who had three children, Sarah, Braden and Ryan, moved to Wanaka a few years ago due to his ill health.
Robyn says he was fun-loving and quietly helped out many people — a celebration of his life will be announced later.
- Meanwhile, tributes have also poured in for floorlayer and former Englishman Terry Trowman.
Brought up in Milton Keynes, he studied handcrafted furniture at Moulton College.
Moving to Queenstown in 2007, he started as a trowel hand and blocklayer at NJ Blocklaying in 2011, then moved to Carpet Court four years later.
Friends describe him as happy-go-lucky, and say no one ever had a bad word to say about him — according to one, he was "forever putting smiles on everyone’s faces".
In a Facebook post, Pig & Whistle Pub, where friends gathered to remember him last Sunday, calls him a beloved patron.
Fuller tributes to both Richard and Terry will run in future weeks.
