Hawking’s ashes to be buried among our greatest scientists
PROFESSOR Stephen Hawking’s ashes will be interred in Westminster Abbey alongside other great British scientists following his funeral in Cambridge on Easter Saturday.
The funeral will take place at Great St Mary’s, the university church in Cambridge, in recognition that it is “the city that he loved so much and which loved him”.
Professor Hawking passed away last week at the age of 76 having become one of the world’s most renowned physicists, despite his long battle with a form of motor neurone disease.
In a statement, his children, Lucy, Robert and Tim, said: “Our whole family want to express our huge gratitude for all the wonderful tributes to our father and to those who have sent us messages of condolence. Our father lived and worked in Cambridge for over 50 years. He was an integral and highly recognisable part of the university and the city.
“For this reason, we have decided to hold his funeral in the city that he loved so much and which loved him.”
Although Professor Hawking was an atheist, his family said the service would be “inclusive and traditional”.
The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, said: “It is entirely fitting that the remains of Professor Stephen Hawking are to be buried in the Abbey, near those of distinguished fellow scientists.
“Sir Isaac Newton was buried in the Abbey in 1727. Charles Darwin was buried beside Isaac Newton in 1882.”