Vale: Gold Coast sporting icon Daphne Pirie mourned after her death in palliative care

City leaders have paid tribute to one of the Gold Coast’s most loved sporting icons after she died in hospital.

The Gold Coast has lost arguably its most loved sporting icon and pioneer.

Daphne Pirie, 90, died in the early hours of Friday morning at the Gold Coast Private Hospital.

The Bulletin understands Mrs Pirie had a fall at her home some weeks ago, was admitted to hospital and later placed in palliative care.

Acting Mayor Donna Gates, at Friday’s full council meeting, described Mrs Pirie as a “true icon of Gold Coast sport”.

Mrs Pirie had been president of the Queensland Rugby League, a member of the State Olympic Council and director of Gold Coast Events Management.

Daphne Pirie and some of her seven siblings.

“In her younger years she had been a champion sprinter and in 1955 she held no less than 40 open championships in her State, and was unbeaten in all events,” Cr Gates said.

“Daphne was an enthusiastic supporter of anything that encouraged greater sporting participation by the city’s young people, and the building of world-leading sporting infrastructure.

“She also loved hockey, and all sports, leading to her becoming the president of the Gold Coast’s Sporting Hall of Fame from 1999 until her passing this morning.

“Daphne was one of our most beautiful women.

“She made us so proud so many times in her representation and in her love of this city.

“We loved her dearly.”

Mayor Tom Tate said Mrs Pirie’s legacy included her wonderful sporting spirit and great leadership, along with her love for the sporting community.

Granddaughter Bonnie-Rae Pirie and Daphne Pirie at Daphne's 90th birthday at RACV Royal Pines Resort late last year.

“Each event we go to, she was one of the bright stars at all time. I will miss her dearly,” he said.

The Sporting Hall of Fame, in a tribute on Friday, wrote about Mrs Pirie’s fighting spirit.

The city’s most prestigious annual sporting awards – the Daphne Pirie Spirit of Sport Medal – was awarded each year to an unsung sports administrator who “best exhibits Mrs Pirie’s personal qualities of dedication and a long-term love of volunteerism”.

“Any Gold Coaster who has ever picked up a hockey stick or a bat or a ball or a set of running spikes owe her an enormous debt of gratitude,” the Sporting Hall of Fame posted.

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“And it was only in the past decade that she met and stared down breast cancer, using her fighting spirit to whack it squarely into the back of the net.

“At her 90th birthday party late last year at RACV Royal Pines, Daphne, lipstick rimmed wine glass at the ready, kept her 100 guests spellbound with a 30-minute razor sharp recall of a life well lived — without notes, without prompts, and without regrets.

“She spoke of her deep love of family and friends and how sport shapes lives and lives shape sport and how she wouldn’t change a single thing in her life’s magnificent journey.”

Daphne Pirie carrying the Baton as the Queen's Baton Relay.

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Mrs Pirie vice-captained the Australian women’s hockey team in the Asian Test Series in Singapore in 1962 and, with her husband Mick, helped establish the sport on the Gold Coast.

Their passion saw a bumpy grass field marked with reclaimed sump oil at Southport transformed into a world class hockey centre for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

“Yep, they don’t make them like her and Mick anymore and we’ll miss them both terribly,” the Sporting Hall of Fame wrote.

Originally published as Vale: Gold Coast sporting icon Daphne Pirie mourned after her death in palliative care