Upon the death of a member prior to receipt of a disability benefit or service retirement, the surviving spouse or dependents of the deceased member shall have the right to purchase any service credit which the member, had he not died, would have been eligible to purchase under this chapter upon the same terms and conditions which the deceased member could have purchased such service credit had he not died. 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 his lifetime.