By Julia Bergin, ABC News
An Indonesian police spokesperson holds up a photo of Glen Malcolm Conning in a video. Photo: Supplied / Indonesian Police
New Zealand pilot Glen Malcolm Conning, who was shot dead last week in West Papua, has been remembered as a "courageous person who lived without fear and to the full" at a private funeral in his hometown of Motueka.
His mother, Vicki Lawrence, said via video that Conning was given the send-off of a "true gentleman" on Thursday and that she could not have asked for a better way to commemorate her "beautiful, beautiful boy".
Conning was killed by gunmen on 5 August after landing a helicopter in Indonesian West Papua's remote Alama district.
The other passengers on board the helicopter were unharmed.
Conning's body was returned to New Zealand and laid to rest in line with Māori tradition.
The funeral at the Moutere Hills Community Centre drew a 300-plus crowd including Conning's family and friends, pilots, hunters, fisherman, and "everybody" from all over the world, Lawrence said.
"Glen of course had his lovely family at home, but he also had a family overseas," Lawrence told the ABC.
A helicopter entry, songs, a huge family haka, countless words of love, and the lasting visual of her son's dimpled cheeks, were all, Lawrence said, a testament to her son's place in the world.
"He loved his mates, he loved his family, his whānau, and I'm feeling a lot better than I have done the last few weeks," Lawrence said.
"The love that was in that room, either spoken or unspoken, it was certainly not a stiff Victorian funeral."
Many spoke during the service, including Lawrence and Conning's wife Natasha, about his ability to connect with people and make everyone feel special.
Natasha Conning's best friend, Taraia Brown, told the ABC that the late pilot, husband, and father had earned the revered title of "son of Motueka".
She said he embodied the three Māori values of "aroha" (love), "manaaki" (purpose) and "manaakitanga" which is kindness and hospitality to give to others.
"The community really see him as their own," Brown said.
In the immediate aftermath of Conning's death, Brown, who was with the family at the time, described a very different sentiment and scene.
She said the conflicting reports of how he died, what went wrong, and who was to blame along with harassment by local media had been "traumatic" for Natasha Conning and her children.
The Indonesian authorities and an independence group have blamed each other for Conning's death.
Journalists had reportedly ventured down the Connings' 3km driveway, circled the house, and knocked on bathroom windows for three days to try and get a statement from the family.
All the noise about politics, Brown added, had detracted from who Conning was as a person, why he was in West Papua, and the "love that he brought with him".
Whether he was picking up healthcare workers, dropping off aid, or providing food for villages, Brown said Conning was in West Papua because he felt like he was doing something good.
"Even though he knew there were risks involved, he felt really strongly about that country and the injustice," she said.
And wherever he went, she added, he was afforded the Māori value of "mana" (authority).
In his small country hometown, half the community stopped by to pay their respects.
Online, messages and donations flowed.
In Indonesia, Brown said the local kids would call him Captain Glen and chase after him the moment he returned to base.
"That's the best thing a person can be in New Zealand, is to have that kind of mana," she said.
This story was originally published by ABC News.