George Lowe, the last surviving member of the first team to climb Mount Everest, has died at age 89.

Lowe passed away Wednesday at a nursing home in Ripley, central England. He was part of a small group that included his friend Edmund Hillary, the only New Zealanders on the 1953 expedition to climb the world's highest peak.

The group including Lowe had established the final camp 1,000 feet (300 meters) below the mountain's summit on May 28, 1953. The next day, Hillary and Tenzing Norgay of Nepal reached the 29,035 foot (8,850 meter) peak.

"He was typical of that generation of New Zealand climbers who, with very little funding and a lot of effort, represented New Zealand very well overseas," said Sam Newton, general manager of the New Zealand Alpine Club, which Lowe was a lifetime member.

"He was one of the lead climbers, forging the route up Everest's Lhotse Face without oxygen and later cutting steps for his partners up the summit ridge," said Kari Herbert of Polarworld, due to publish Lowe's book "Letters From Everest."

Peter Hillary, Sir Edmund Hillary's son, spoke of how his father and Lowe helped build hospitals and schools in Nepal for years after the celebrated climb.

"[Lowe] was a gentle soul, a gentleman, generous with his time. [He]remained a humble, happy man right to the end. That's an inspirational lesson to us all," shared family friend Dr. Huw Lewis-Jones.

The successful climb of Mount Everest, in the Himalayas is considered one of the 20th century's greatest feats of exploration.