Nigel (Chee Fai) Lee was born in Kieta, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea on the 18th March, 1973; the fourth child to Anna Yuk Kam and Wilbur Hing Hung Lee. His was an early birth; almost born both in a plane and a jeep on the way to Arawa Hospital in Kieta.

Nigel spent the first few years of his life in Buka Island, Bougainville, North Solomons Province, until 1975 when Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia.

In 1977 his parents decided that mother and children would move to Brisbane, Australia for schooling, while Dad would remain in Buka to manage their store. There would be occasional visits by the whole family at school holidays, to Buka. Many childhood friendships were developed in his time there.

Nigel, Narelle, Jonathan, Charmaine and Denise went to the local primary school in Albany Creek until each child was old enough for Secondary (or High) School. Nigel then began his studies at St. Paul’s Anglican School, Bald Hills as a grade 7 student in 1985; through till year 12 in 1990. It was at St. Paul’s that Nigel began to show his athletic potential in a variety of sports. He played Soccer one year but only really showed his talents when he took up Rugby Union and Athletics, in which he represented the school. Nigel became known by the nickname “Quicksilver” and also “Chicka” for his speed on the rugby field. Chicka was the nickname of a prominent winger in the Canberra Raiders Rugby League Team in the 1980’s.

At St. Paul’s, Nigel was to develop lifelong friendships, which last to this very day. He had the gift of making and keeping friends and had a busy social life. His love of a variety of sports was also nurtured. After school, and into his adult life, Nigel worked in various jobs in Hospitality. He was a delivery boy, a waiter at Ti Amo and a supervisor for a Coffee Club outlet, followed by stints managing a small café in Sherwood, then later at the Victory Hotel, Clear Mountain Health Retreat, and lastly as a Bar Manager at both the Carseldine and Kelvin Grove Campuses of QUT (Queensland University of Technology).

His ability to make people feel at ease; his friendliness and hard-working attitude made him ideally suited to the Hospitality industry, and a friend to many. Nigel worked hard but balanced this with a healthy social life. He always had time for family and friends and very rarely missed an opportunity to catch up with those close to him. Nigel’s girlfriend Rebecca (who he met whilst working at QUT) and her family have been a very important part of his life the past few years. They welcomed Nigel into their family with open arms, and for this the Lee Family are eternally grateful.

In between jobs he managed to find time to travel the world. He travelled to London and Europe; though his last big trip was to Whistler, Canada, where he lived for a time; made many friends, and learnt to snowboard. His love for snowboarding remained with him for his entire life.

Nigel loved to fish and would often take friends out on his trusty Cruisecraft; though more often than not they would come back empty-handed. It was only recently that he began to catch the occasional fish or shark, but he enjoyed his time on the boat nevertheless.

Nigel will be sorely missed by those who knew him, but let us all draw comfort from the fact that he lived a full and complete life, and that we were all blessed to have known him. We will remember and cherish his time with us.

RIP Nigel.