PALIKIR, Pohnpei (FSMIS) — The government of the state of Yap scheduled a state funeral on Friday, April 20, for its first governor, the late John de Avila Mangefel.
Mangefel died at the Yap Memorial Hospital on April 10, a little over a month following admittance. He was 74.
The body of Mangefel was scheduled to lie in state in the Yap state legislative chamber for the state funeral on Friday before being transported to the family residence at Atliw village where it reposd until Saturday.
In accordance with the funeral arrangements, Mangefel’s body as interred at the family graveyard on Saturday.
As the first governor of the new state of Yap, Mangefel was among the revered founding fathers of the Micronesian islands.
He served in various capacities within the Yap state government and with the national government.
Among the positions held at the national level is that of the FSM national planner, deputy secretary of foreign affairs and also at the office of the president as the disaster coordinator.
Yap State Resolution No. 7-25, noted that the late Mangefel will “always be remembered by the leaders and the people of the state of Yap as a great statesman, a leader and a fellow Yapese who made significant contributions to the political, economical and social development of the state of Yap [as well as] the Federated States of Micronesia.”
Mangefel is survived by his wife Helen Turgeg, their children and grandchildren.