‘He loved us very much’
He was a quiet, running, climbing man who was all smile.
The day after Justin Airlie’s funeral, his wife Courtney, surrounded by photos, remembered his marriage proposal.
‘‘He sold all his [PlayStation Portable] games to buy my ring. We had a joint account and he wanted it to be a surprise.
‘‘That’s the type of man he was – him and that smile, his whole face was a smile.’’
Justin died after he was hit by a car on State Highway 1, south of O¯ taki, in the early hours of October 12. The serious crash unit was still investigating.
Courtney said the 29-year-old was out running; boundless energy just one of the reasons he was the perfect father to 2-year-old Jaxon.
‘‘Justin was always running. He would run for miles, and he was always climbing things,’’ said his 27-year-old widow. ‘‘He was super fit, he could jump anything. My mum used to call him ‘Gazelle Boy’ because he was just so nimble.’’
Sitting in the O¯ taki house they had planned to renovate, Courtney said about 300 people had turned out for the funeral.
‘‘For a man who didn’t say much, he meant a lot to so many people. He’ll be gutted to think he’s hurt them.’’
The couple met as teenagers and married on Valentine’s Day. They honeymooned in Rarotonga, where Justin scaled a coconut tree.
‘‘We came back with Jaxon, he was our honeymoon baby.’’
The trio were to have returned to the island next year to celebrate the couple’s 10-year anniversary and Justin’s 30th birthday; Courtney still planned to take their son.
‘‘Justin would want us to be happy. Everything he did was to make us happy.’’
A local boy, Justin attended O¯ taki schools and worked at the district’s supermarket.
He’d grown up in the Ka¯piti Coast town, where he had climbed trees almost since he could walk, according to his mum Tracey Huxtable.
‘‘I picked him up from Waitohu School and asked him where his lunchbox was. He pointed up and it was at the top of a tree.’’
In essence, her son was a gentle, quiet man who loved his family more than anything.
‘‘He was always my little boy, even when he was a man,’’ Huxtable said.
Courtney said a future without her man was still too raw to consider but Jaxon would be told about his dad and how much he loved him.
How he climbed trees and ran for miles. How he said little but loved lots. How he smiled.
‘‘Just the other week I looked up and he was staring at us.
‘‘I asked him what he was looking at and he said he was just appreciating us. He loved us very much.’’
A GiveaLittle page has been set up for Courtney and Jaxon Airlie.
‘‘He was always my little boy, even when he was a man.’’
Justin Airlie’s mother, Tracey Huxtable