Tina Gellie added that Mr Tunstall's children Fraser, 10, and Alice, 8, were planning a relay run at their school in Harrogate to raise additional funds for the hospice which looked after their dad.
She said: "Gary's family and I have been so overwhelmed by the generosity of colleagues and friends from far and wide, including the USA, Australia, Kazakhstan and France, who have donated to St Michael's Hospice in his name – even people who never met him. It is very moving. The hospice relies 80% on donations to carry on, so every individual contribution helps, so thank you so much to everyone."
Mr Tunstall, former head of Financial Planning at London-based Financial Planning firm Cavendish Medical, died last month after a courageous two year battle against stomach cancer. Rather than flowers, friends and family asked for donations via Just Giving to St Michael's Hospice at Hornbeam Park, Harrogate, where Mr Tunstall was cared for in his last few weeks.
Donations have flooded in from family, friends and well-wishers, including people who did not know him. His former employer Cavendish Medical has made a £1,000 donation.
The JustGiving page dedicated to raising funds for the hospice is at https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/garytunstall
Mr Tunstall had a long and impressive career in Paraplanning and Financial Planning, winning a number of awards including Paraplanner of the Year in 2011. At Cavendish Medical, a specialist firm which helps doctors and medical professionals, he was the firm’s first ever head of Financial Planning. He was known for his wit, dry sense of humour, enthusiasm for Paraplanning and helping colleagues.
Read a full tribute to Gary Tunstall here http://bit.ly/2wFryDo
Prior to working for Cavendish, he worked at Cathi Harrison’s Para-Sols, an outsourced Paraplanning business. He was instrumental in helping the company grow rapidly and staff there have renamed their rest area the ‘Tunstall Arms’ in his honour.
At Cavendish Medical he went on extended medical leave at the end of 2016 and colleagues held a ‘Gary Day’ when he left to thank him for his contribution to the company and to wish him well, not knowing if he would return.
Mr Tunstall leaves partner Tina, ex-wife Fiona and children, Fraser and Alice.