Stephen Hawking's ashes to be interred near graves of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin

LONDON — The ashes of renowned scientist Stephen Hawking will be interred at Westminster Abbey in London.

BBC reported that Hawking's family said a private funeral service would be held March 31 at Church of St. Mary the Great, in Cambridge, England.

According to a spokesman for the abbey, Hawking will be interred near the grave of Sir Issac Newton, The Guardian reported.

“It is entirely fitting that the remains of Prof Stephen Hawking are to be buried in the abbey, near those of distinguished fellow scientists,” the very Rev. John Hall, the dean of Westminster, said. “Sir Isaac Newton was buried in the abbey in 1727. Charles Darwin was buried beside Isaac Newton in 1882.

“Other famous scientists are buried or memorialised nearby, the most recent burials being those of atomic physicists Ernest Rutherford in 1937 and Joseph John Thomson in 1940.

“We believe it to be vital that science and religion work together to seek to answer the great questions of the mystery of life and of the universe.”

Hawking died peacefully March 14 at age 76.

Cox Media Group