Members of Utah's Tongan community and their friends were mourning the death Sunday of Tonga's long-time king, Taufa'ahau Tupou IV, who died in a New Zealand hospital at age 88.

The loss of King Tupou IV, who ruled Tonga for 41 years, was not unexpected but caused sadness among Utahns of Tongan descent and others who knew the king.

Utah has one of the largest populations of people born in Tonga outside of the small Pacific Ocean kingdom. King Tupou IV and his wife, Queen Halaevalu Mata'aho, visited the state in recent years.

"It's a terrible tragedy for the kingdom, because he's been a king for so long," said Lani Sitake, Orem, who was born in Utah of Tongan descent, lived in Tonga for a time as an adult before returning to Utah.

"The people are so loving of their royalty. We love and we honor our royalty. ... The king and the queen are treated with such deference and respect."

A nephew of the king and the nephew's wife recently died in a car accident while visiting San Francisco, she noted. "This is a double-whammy. That was just a few months ago. It's a nation already in mourning."

The 2000 Census lists 6,587 Utahns as of Tongan descent. Most are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to experts interviewed. Many others are members of the Tongan United Methodist Church.

King Tupou IV visited Utah more than once, most recently in 2004 to dedicate the Tongan United Methodist Church building, which replaced a building destroyed by an arson fire in 2000.

The king called upon then-Gov. Olene Walker and visited with officials of the LDS Church. At the time, officials said it was his second trip to the state.

LDS Church officials have had many friendly contacts with the king. At the celebration of church President Gordon B. Hinckley's 95th birthday in July 2005, President Hinckley wore a lei sent to him from King Tupou IV.

Among those close to the king was John H. Groberg, an emeritus General Authority and currently president of the Idaho Falls LDS Temple. He is author of "The Other Side of Heaven," a memoir of his mission to Tonga in the 1950s which was made into a film in recent years. In 2003, President Groberg and Elder Ronald T. Halverson of the Seventy were in Tonga for a satellite conference, and met with the king and members of the royal family.

In 1993, King Tupou IV participated in the 30th anniversary of the Church's Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii, and in 1991, the queen visited Salt Lake City for six days as a guest of the Church.

In August 1991 the LDS Church celebrated the centennial of its work in Tonga, and the king attended major events and declared a public holiday. The Tongan post office issued two commemorative stamps in honor of the occasion.