The surviving spouse of a member who dies on or after the effective date of this amendment may continue any service credit purchase the member initiated before death. A purchase shall be considered to have been initiated before the member's death if the member made one or more payments for the purchase before death.
Any service credit purchased under this section shall be applied under the provisions of this chapter in the same manner as it would have been applied had it been purchased by the deceased member during the deceased member's lifetime.
R.C. § 145.452