Greg Brice, the gay man found dead in an inner-city Auckland street last Friday morning, was this afternoon remembered by friends and family as a loyal and supportive friend with sparkling eyes and a wry sense of humour. Brice was born in Christchurch in 1964, finished his secondary education in Wellington, where he came out, and moved into jobs in the human resources, consulting, real estate and TV production fields. In 1994, after moving to Auckland, he met Homosexual Law Reform campaign lawyer Alan Ivory and the two men became an inseparable couple. They had a formal commitment ceremony in 1999, well before Civil Unions legislation came into being. Today Brice was remembered as having a genuine interest in people and a determination to get things done. He and Ivory hosted numerous "indulgent and over the top" weekend lunches, with Brice generally holding court whilst reclined on a sofa. His interests included the occult and science fiction and his body was farewelled this afternoon to the theme tune from Dr Who. Almost two hundred people gathered for the funeral service following Brice's sudden death. Staff from the Lateshift club, which is close to where Brice's body was found, say Brice was not at the club that evening, nor was his body in the street parking space, where it was discovered at 8.20am, when the club closed at 3.20am. The time of his death has not been revealed, but a woman who used an adjacent parking space at 7.45am says there was no sign of his body even at that late stage of the morning. Police say there is no evidence of foul play. It is believed Brice may have slipped and fallen, or had a medical mishap, but a formal cause of death has yet to be established.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 30th July 2008 - 7:15pm