Everest conquerer hillary dies at 88

Sir Edmund Hillary, the first person to stand atop the world's highest mountain, was remembered as a deeply driven but unassuming man who strived to help Nepal's people in the decades after his ascent of Mount Everest.

Hillary, who died Friday of a heart attack at 88, will have a state funeral in New Zealand, where he began the mountaineering career that took him and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay to the tallest point on earth, a spokesman for his family said. He is survived by his children Peter and Sarah and wife June, who her family was comforted by the messages of support from around the world.