Prime Minister John Key has confirmed the details of a public memorial for Kiwi icon Jonah Lomu, who sadly passed away last week at the age of 40.
The memorial will take place on Monday, November 30, at Eden Park in Auckland, with the service scheduled to run from 1pm to 3pm.
“Jonah touched people’s lives across the country and around the world,” Mr Key said in a statement announcing the news.
“This service will be open to all members of the public who want to remember the significant contribution Jonah made, not only to rugby here and overseas, but also to the wider community through his work with charities such as UNICEF and Kidney Kids NZ.
“The service will be a celebration of Jonah’s life and I expect a large number of people will want to be there.”
A private funeral for the rugby legend will be held on Tuesday, December 1, and a special ‘Aho Faka Famili’ (Day of the Family) event is planned for Saturday, November 28, to allow Pasifika to pay their respects to Jonah in the traditional way.
“There is such huge international interest in Jonah that we feel this is the most appropriate way,” Lomu family spokesman John Hart said of the Eden Park memorial.
“We want to make it a celebration. We want to invite all the public, we want a big crowd to come to Eden Park.
“We’ve chosen Eden Park because it’s the spiritual home of rugby and somewhere Jonah loves so much.”
