Tonga's Sia'atoutai Theological College witnessed a special ceremony on July 15 as the ashes of a former principal, the late Rev. Ronald Archibald William Woodgate and his wife Ruth Elizabeth Woodgate were buried in a memorial in the college grounds.

The burial was the wishes of Ronald and Ruth who both passed away in Melbourne, Australia, recently.

Rev. Woodgate became a president of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga in 1947 and a principal of the Sia'atoutai Theological College in 1948.

A remembrance service was held at the chapel of the college before a container of ashes was placed in a small crypt that under a toa tree outside the chapel.

Rev Lopeti Taufa, a former student of Rev Woodgate, while conducting the burial service recalled how Ronald and Ruth were the parents of the college, and it was their administration skill and their attention to the welfare of the college that made it a successful institution. He said that the couple were an inspiration and were role models for students and anyone who had any working relationship with them.

In a speech made in Tongan by Roger Woodgate, a son, recognized the presence at the church service of King George Tupou V, Princess Mele Si'u'ilikutapu Kalaniuvalu Fotofili, and Hon. Fanetupou Vava'u Tu'ivakano and Baroness Tuputupu Vaea. He also thanked the Community of Sia'atoutai and the members of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga for their assistance in completing the wishes of his parents for their ashes to be buried at Sia'atoutai in Tonga.