Frank Schofield

Before he died, he wrote: “When I die, please bury me in Korean soil. Please take care of the boys and girls and the poor that I once cared for.”

This month Schofield was honoured at a national cemetery in Seoul, for his service to Korean liberation from Japanese colonial rule.

He is the only foreigner buried in the patriots’ section of the cemetery - only 300 are so honored - where some 165,000 are buried.

Seoul National University (SNU)’s College of Veterinary Medicine organized the intimate commemoration ceremony of about 20 people, including Ambassador Marius Grinius of Canada, Korean media reported.

``The memorial activities will help Koreans and Canadians remember and honor Schofield’s fervent belief in democracy and faith in the universalism of human rights,’’ said Grinius.

Schofield led Bible study classes for young people through the 1960s, but many said they learned much more than Bible lessons from the Canadian who spent the last 25 years of his life in Korea.

Francis William Schofield is one of only three foreigners buried in the cemetery and the only one in the patriots’ section. Kang Hae-rim and Wee Shi-pang, two Chinese that fought on South Korea in the 1950-53 Korean War, are also buried at the cemetery.

Schofield was a teacher at Seoul National University from 1916 to 1919.

In his biology classes, he often lectured his students on the virtues of democracy and self-determination and encouraged them to resist Japanese colonial rule.

Many Koreans consider him as the “34th signatory” of the original 33 who signed Korea’s March 1 Declaration of Independence of 1919.

In 1919, he was imprisoned for a year by the Japanese for his efforts and deported back to Canada.

He finished secondary school in Toronto and enrolled in the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Toronto in 1910 and completed his Ph.D. in 1914.

In 1955, he returned to Korea. In the 1950s and 1960s, he supported the Yoorin and Bongeun orphanages and the Heungkook Vocational School for Working Boys and Girls. He also led bible study classes at Kyonggi and Sookmyung Girls’ High Schools, top schools in Seoul in those days.