Scores of mourners packed the North Harbour Chapel in Albany yesterday to farewell the man killed in a fatal leap at Auckland's Princes Wharf.
Adam Douglas Marshall, 28, died after hitting the wharf while trying to jump into the harbour from an eighth-floor balcony of the Hilton Apartmentsin the early hours of Sunday.
There were no suspicious circumstances and the matter has been referred to the coroner.
His mother, Laura Magic, in an emotional speech, paid tribute to her fun-loving and mischievous son, who as a youngster once booby-trapped her bed with frogs.
Unfortunately, Ms Magic rather likes frogs, so the prank misfired.
She spoke, also, of the trials and tribulations of moving her young family from Zimbabwe, to South Africa and, finally, to New Zealand.
The family arrived in 1995, living in Nelson, Wellington and Wainuiomata, then Auckland.
Her former husband also addressed the mourners, finishing with acrushing summation of the family's decision to move to this country.
"In hindsight, the move was amistake. The price has been too high."
Mr Marshall - a construction student at Unitec, in Auckland - had, for years, worked part-time at Glenfield's Castles Marquee and Party Hire, and boss Mike Elliot spoke of the pain co-workers felt at hisdeath.
Mr Elliot spoke to the Weekend Herald after yesterday's service, and paid tribute to the employee he called "my little OSH nightmare".
He believed Mr Marshall was fearless, good-natured and "the leader that everyone looks up to".
His death was something that every parent dreaded hearing, Mr Elliot said, and the accident reminded him of his own son.
