Jonah Lomu has been remembered as a great student and an untouchable athlete at a special memorial service at his old school, Wesley College.
The All Black great's family joined hundreds of past and present students at Pukekohe in south Auckland to pay their respects.
Their motto is "once a Wesleyan, always a Wesleyan", and Lomu was one of them, proudly.
It was footage of the ridiculously athletic Tongan playing for Wesley College that first made New Zealand sit up and take notice of Lomu.
"We saw Jonah climb that ladder to supremacy, but along the way how many rungs were missing on that ladder and how many rungs did Jonah bypass to reach that supremacy?" says school physio Malcolm Hood. "I think that is the thing that appeals to us all in the room, that we knew him before he was famous."
The two-hour memorial service was held at Wesley College, attended by 250 past and present students and teachers, who shared a Lomu story, a fond memory.
"You were never afraid to play your car stereo a little too loud, or do your running man a little too fast or love others like there was no tomorrow, and that's what I will miss," says Adrienne Vickers.
A senior classmate recalled Lomu challenging him to a race.
"I'm four years older than Jonah and I thought, 'I'm going to kick this boy's butt,' but at the start he was already halfway down the road and I thought, 'Man, this kid's annoying.'"
His brother said he cherished his 21st birthday key. Jonah signed it: "Bro, aim for the moon and even if you miss you'll land amongst the stars."
Other Lomu family members travelled from Tonga, the United States and Australia to pay their respects.
"I'm his uncle and I'm proud of him," says Siale Tali Lomu. "He made us on top of the world."
A flag flies at half-mast at the school. Soon a new flagpole will be erected, named after Lomu.
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