News / Beach ceremony remembers Kester
AROUND 200 people turned up for a memorial service to remember the life of 51 year old Kester Wigram, who disappeared on the first of April after setting off to sea in a borrowed canoe from Shetland.
After the service at Lerwick’s St Columba Church, about 60 of his friends and family went to St Ninian’s Isle beach from where the New Zealander set off into the open sea, never to be seen again.
Officially he is still a missing person, but yesterday a bonfire was lit, stones were thrown into the sea and flowers floated off on the waves to remember the man who led an extraordinary life.
An outdoor pursuit enthusiast, Kester would climb higher, canoe further and cycle faster than most people believed possible.
His partner Lorna Hughson, with whom he has an eight year old son called Eldon, said that Kester was prone to mood swings. “His moods would go up and down like the waves of the sea,” she said.
“But he fitted more into his 51 years than most people could put into 100. He loved a challenge and would never, ever pick the easy route.”
He arrived in Shetland about 15 years ago and spent most of his time working at Sullom Voe oil terminal as a petro chemical engineer, often cycling the 30 miles to work from his Lerwick home.
The last two years he spent working in Norway where he explored the fjords and the mountains with his usual passion.
His sister Sarah Fitzimons and his eldest son Elliott, aged 26, flew over from New Zealand to attend Monday’s service after attending a similar bonfire ceremony in his native land.
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