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UH medical school body donors honored

By Cindy Ellen Russell

April 13, 2019

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Hundreds attended a memorial Saturday to offer a final aloha to the “silent teachers” who donated their bodies to further learning by students and researchers at the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine.
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Watching the ceremony from the edge of Magic Island are Jean Boyens-Reis and her sister, Susan Donahue, whose mother, Dorothy Boyens, donated her body to the program. They both plan to do the same at the request of their brother, Christian Boyens. “He said he learned so much from the cadavers at med school that he really wanted us to do the same thing to pass it on,” said Susan Donahue.
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Connie Oliva took a photo as University of Hawaii medical students paddled back after scattering the ashes off Magic Island on Saturday. She attended the ceremony in honor of her father-in-law, Frank Oliva. “He would have loved to be here to see that. He would have appreciated the flowers, the water, the sun, the people. He would have said, 'This is really good Connie. I’m glad I came.'”
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The annual event, hosted by medical students, started at Farrington High School with hula, music by a string quartet and thank-yous to the families of the 180 body donors honored this year. The ceremony ended at Magic Island with a scattering of ashes.
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Members of the Celtic Pipes and Drums of Hawaii play as University of Hawaii medical students paddled by along Magic Island on Saturday.
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University of Hawaii medical student Chad Russell hands a box filled with ashes to colleague Nanea Cavavo on Saturday.
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University of Hawaii medical student Anthony Kwon loads a box with ashes onto one of the canoes on Saturday.
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University of Hawaii medical students paddled off Magic Island to spread the ashes of 180 willed body donors in a memorial service held in their honor on Saturday.
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University of Hawaii medical students paddled off Magic Island to spread the ashes of 180 willed body donors in a memorial service held in their honor on Saturday.
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