Tonya Morvay was, in life, a strong, caring woman who believed deeply in the principles of paying forward and giving back.

In death, her children say, she continued to demonstrate those beliefs in a most powerful and telling way.

Morvay, who died on July 3, was one of 152 “willed body donors” honored by students of the John A. Burns School of Medicine on Saturday.

“She gave back and continued to give back after she died,” said daughter Natasha Lucero-Conklin. “She knew that she didn’t need to have her body here. She continues to live on in spirit.”

An estimated 500 people attended a private ceremony at the University of Hawaii at Manoa campus recognizing people who donated their bodies to the medical school for study within the past year.

Later in the afternoon, about 150 people, including Morvay’s family, gathered at Ala Moana Beach Park where the remains of 70 of those donors were scattered in the ocean off of Magic Island.

“We appreciate the donors and what they did for us,” said first-year student Derron Maki, 26, who coordinated the event. “We learn so much more from working with cadavers than we could from just reading a text. That’s why this event is so important to us. It’s one way to connect to the donors’ families.

“We can’t thank the donors,” he said. “We can only thank their families.”

JABSOM students rely on the so-called “silent teachers” during their foundational study of anatomy in the first and second years in the program. While computer-generated models are also used, JABSOM officials said the ability to work with cadavers is an essential part of the students’ education.

The annual event was organized by first-year medical students, many of whom donned white lab coats over board shorts and other beachwear to escort family members to the viewing area.

With the Celtic Pipes and Drums of Hawaii providing a Scottish inflection to its performance of “Aloha Oe,” a half-dozen camera-equipped drones buzzed high above, capturing the progress of the canoe, and curious surfers observed from atop their boards in the near break.

First-year class president Noa Yee, 23, said the event was a valuable opportunity for students to reflect on the reasons that they chose to pursue medicine.

“We’ve just started our journeys so we really don’t know anything,” he said. “But what we all agree on is that we got into this for the people. Being able to put context to the scientific learning that we experience makes everything much more real. It’s one thing to do your work in anatomy class and another to actually meet the donor’s loved ones. It’s incredible.”

Lucero-Conklin, who attended the event with her husband, Mike Conklin, brother John Lucero and stepsister Jen Lucero, said the students’ gratitude was evident from the heartfelt comments they offered during the morning ceremony and from their interactions with family members at the park.

“This was amazing,” Lucero-Conklin said as the three canoes carrying medical students headed back toward the park to the applause of family members lining the edge of the harbor. “This was the best memorial I’ve ever attended. I can’t think of a better way to honor my mother.”