Tragedy, illness and old age claimed many who changed the world and left a big impression.

Josie James

The long-serving former St Hilda’s School principal died in January at the age of 86.

Ms James served as principal at the all-girls school from 1989 to 2002 and was remembered as a “much-loved” and “inspiring” school leader.

Shaun Spain

Heartfelt tributes were paid to popular Gold Coast Army veteran and real estate agent Shaun Spain, who was remembered as a big-hearted, selfless person who dedicated his life to helping others.

Mr Spain died on January 7 at the age of 51.

During a 15-year career in the army which began in 1999, Mr Spain served tours of duty in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Following his career in the army Mr Spain began a career in real estate, founding Bespoke Gold Coast Realty.

However, he remained close to his Army comrades and was a strong advocate for veterans, speaking to the Bulletin in 2021 about the challenges they faced.

When in 2019 he won $200,000 in a lottery draw, he donated much of his winnings to Mates4Mates, an organisation that supports current and former Australian Defence Force members and their families.

Evan Cooper

Well-known lawyer Evan Cooper died in January at age 42 after battling a long-term illness.

Mr Cooper was a fixture in the Southport Court precinct and was a founding partner of Cooper Roper Legal.

He founded the firm, which was originally called Cooper Maloy Legal, with Matt Maloy in 2013 before a name change in 2021.

His fiancee Victoria Ward led tributes to him saying: “Evan was well loved by everyone that he met. “He was the first person to help if they needed it. He thought of everyone else before himself.”

Matthew Schneider

Town planner Matthew Schneider’s death at age 39 touched people across the Gold Coast and far beyond.

The prominent identity’s courageous year-long battle with stage four bowel cancer ended in January.

The loving Tamborine Mountain father and director of property consulting firm Urbis is survived by his wife Samantha and three children: Maggie, and identical twins Oliver and Louis.

In his final months, Mr Schneider emotionally documented his battle against cancer.

In a testament to his reach, hundreds of people travelled more than two hours west of the Gold Coast for his private funeral.

Valerie Cooney

Valerie Cooney was a television legendary whose stellar career included a performance on the first night of ABC television.

She died in February at the age of 88 following a short illness.

During her career she also sang on BBC TV in the UK, hosted her own talk show and spent many years working in Los Angeles and Spain.

In 1994 she returned to Australia, settling in Robina and becoming a much-loved stalwart at the Gold Coast Little Theatre, where she continued to perform into her early eighties.

After appearing on the opening night of ABC television in November 1956 when she sang the popular song Too Marvellous For Words, Ms Cooney hosted a weekly live program called Picture Page in which she interviewed Australian and overseas celebrities.

The talented singer, actor and pianist later had another show on ABC called Valerie Cooney Sings, appeared in numerous commercials, and as late as 1993 had a feature role in BBC television series Eldorado.

Rikki Brown

Rikki Brown, a father of two, died in March at age 30, more than seven years after his sister’s Tara Brown’s murder and close to the 20th anniversary of his father Patrick’s death.

There were no suspicious circumstances.

Friends rallied around his mum Natalie Hinton and partner Sade Kerrison to raise funds for his funeral service.

Mr Brown, who graduated from Benowa High School in 2010, was a passionate rugby fan who had been close to his older sister before her death at the hands of bikie Lionel Patea in September 2015.

In recent years he had remained involved in the Tara Brown Foundation for Domestic Violence Relief.

John Sattler

Legendary rugby league player John Sattler was remembered as a “courageous” and “incredible” man by Gold Coasters, from those who played on the field to those he served.

The South Sydney Rabbitohs great, who lived on the Gold Coast for more than 40 years, died in March following a long illness at age 80.

He had lived with dementia for three years following a long and tough career.

Friends, admirers and customers of Mr Sattler have remembered the man they knew who helped create the Gold Coast Giants/Seagulls/Chargers team in the 1980s and later ran many of the city’s most famous pubs.

Betty Diamond

The first woman to lead the Gold Coast at City Hall was remembered as a trailblazer, pioneer and legend who changed the city forever.

Betty Diamond, the city’s former deputy mayor and acting mayor, died in April of natural causes at her Tugun home at age 91.

She was surrounded by family and is survived by her three daughters — Joanne, Alice and Carmel — 14 grandchildren and a large number of great-grandchildren.

Family and friends paid tribute to Mrs Diamond, who was one of the first women elected to the Gold Coast City Council.

Standing for election in 1976 at age 42, she served as an alderman on the council through its most turbulent era and rose to the post of deputy mayor in 1985, serving under then-mayor Denis Pie.

Rick Neilsen

The death of Gold Coast surfing icon Rick Neilsen at age 74 in June sparked tributes recalling the incredible role and his family played in reshaping the industry.

The third oldest brother of the surfing dynasty, he was a key player in the sport in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was survived by his son Adam and five brothers

During that time, he represented Queensland in national titles between 1967 and 1972, was runner-up in the finals at the 1971 Bells Nationals and was part of the Australian team for the 1972 World Surfing Championships at San Diego, California.

His also forged a successful career shaping surfboards, one of which his brother Paul rode to win the Australian Open Mens title in 1971.

Brian Jensen

Brian Jensen, the eponymous founder of Brian’s Auto Centre in Miami, died in July at the age of 74.

Mr Jensen, who began the renowned Gold Coast Highway service centre with long-term business partner Geoff ‘Smoky’ Simons in the 1970s, was remembered as a hard worker who loved cars, telling a joke and swimming at the Miami pool.

Mr Jensen was born in Beechworth, Victoria, in 1948, before moving to the Gold Coast with his family when he was 16.

He worked a number of jobs including furniture making, plumbing and radio antennae installation.

In 1979 Mr Jensen and Mr Simons bought the Total Service Station on the Gold Coast Highway for $135,000 – mourners were told they “scrimped and saved” to pay for it – and the Gold Coast’s best-loved service centre was born.

Danny Church

The founder of one of the city’s longest running Mexican restaurants was declared a “legend” who helped create special memories for thousands of Gold Coasters upon his death in August.

Danny Church was best-known as the founder of Mudgeeraba Mexican restaurant Pancho’s, which originally opened in 1982.

Gordon Jamieson

Gordon Jamieson died in September at the age of 102 after a life travelling the world, having a family and witnessing some of the very worst of humanity.

One of the Gold Coast’s last remaining World War II veterans, he was born in the small Queensland town of Amiens on June 14, 1921, and enlisted in the army in July 1940 at the age of 19 “to go on an adventure”.

He was captured by the Imperial Japanese Army in Malaya on February 15, 1942, following a 10-week battle.

Imprisoned first in Singapore’s infamous Changi Prison, Mr Jamieson was one of 2800 Australians sent to work on building the Thai-Burma Railway.

The family lived in Broadbeach for many years, where Mr Jamieson worked in a range of jobs, including owning a tractor business, a cafe, working in a chicken abattoir and running an engineering firm until his retirement in the 1980s.

Rita Chisholm

The Gold Coast’s last World War I widow was remembered as a beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who lived her life to the fullest.

Ashmore resident Rita Elvie Chisholm died on November 3 at age 89 after a life of adventure which took her around the world.

Mrs Chisholm was born in Maleny on the Sunshine Coast on May 22, 1934 and was the oldest daughter of Viv and Elvie Boland.

Married twice, she met her future husband, light horseman veteran Captain John Mackellar Chisholm, in 1949 when she was just 15.

Mrs Chisholm returned to her family farm at Beechmont in 1956 when she met the captain again and they ran a successful romney sheep stud before falling in love and marrying on April 5, 1962 at St Andrews Church in Brisbane.

The couple lived and worked on their property for five years together before his death in 1967 following a battle with pneumonia.

Jeniene Mapp-Testa

Former television star Jeniene Mapp-Testa died in November.

The Gold Coaster was known to a generation of television viewers across Australia in the 1990s and early 2000s as one of the founding hosts of Saturday Disney.

She had been receiving treatment for a number of years after experiencing ­sudden kidney failure in 2021.

The 49-year-old was survived by her husband of 27 years, Gold Coast hospitality figure Lincoln Testa, who runs popular cafe Madisons at Broadbeach, and their son Benjamin.

Nicholas Brown

A leading Gold Coast property industry figure, Nicholas Brown died in his sleep in December at age 49.

Mr Browne was co-owner of Broadbeach property agency Retail Direct and had battled severe kidney disease for nearly five years.

By the time Mr Brown started dialysis in April 2019, the disease was at stage 5 and his kidneys were functioning at just 10 per cent.

Also a lifelong diabetic, he was on the waiting list for both a kidney and pancreas transplant at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital.

As fate would have it, NSW shut its borders to Victoria as the Covid-19 pandemic raged in 2020 and in August that year, Mr Brown received a 1am phone call from the hospital telling him to get the first flight to Sydney.

There were more health dramas for the veteran property agent when he suffered a massive heart attack three weeks after the transplant as his body struggled to adjust to the shock of the new organs.

But he battled back to health and opened a new office at Broadbeach with long-term colleague Steven Black, who looked after the business while Mr Brown was ill.

If you or someone you know needs help phone Lifeline on 13 11 14, beyondblue on 1300 224636, or Salvo Care Line on 1300 363 622.