The former Gore teacher died in a Dunedin rest-home at the weekend, aged 96.
Mr Gee could turn his hand to anything — he could shear and played snooker to a good level.
He was a regular at Anzac Day services and loved reciting poetry.
Friend Ernie MacManus said Mr Gee never condemned anyone for their behaviour.
"He treated everybody with tolerance and patience.
"He’s fantastic in that way."
"He believes in forgiveness."
Mr Gee grew up in Gore and attended Dunedin Teachers’ College.
He volunteered to fight in the Korean War in 1950 and was teaching in a small school at Orinoco, near Motueka, when he signed up.
He returned home in 1953.
In about 1958, the two men met when Mr MacManus was installing the plumbing in Mr Gee’s new house.
Mr Gee learned to shear and in the school holidays would head to the shearing sheds to earn extra money.
"He was making more out of shearing than he was teaching."
"They thought he was marvellous.
"Everybody did."
Mr Gee had a reputation for not using the cane, which was a common form of punishment.
"He believed in talking and solving problems without the cane."
Apart from that, the pair did not have much to do with each other until 2014 when they played at a snooker tournament.
After that their friendship grew and they played snooker up to three times a week at the Gore and Districts Memorial RSA.
Mr Gee was fond of saying that his mother forbade him from entering snooker or billiard halls but he did not heed her advice.
His friend had been a good influence on him in other ways, Mr MacManus said.
Being in the company of male workmen who would swear their way through a day’s work, Mr MacManus was quite used to swearing himself.
Sometimes Mr MacManus would entertain Mr Gee and the late Noel Marshall for lunch.
In the afternoon, the men would recite poetry.
"They were absolutely fantastic afternoons.
"He knew an awful lot of poems."
Gore and Districts Memorial RSA snooker section chairman Evan Fricker said section members were saddened to hear of Mr Gee’s death.
"He was a great contributor to Gore RSA snooker for over five decades."
He was recently made the section’s first patron.
"He will be fondly remembered with a picture and a plaque mounted on the snooker room wall."
Mr Gee’s funeral will be held on Monday at 10am in the Gore and Districts Memorial RSA.
