Saying Goodbye To Mr. Hockey: Joe Louis Arena Open To Public For Gordie Howe's Visitation
DETROIT (AP) - Gordie Howe's family is opening the doors of Joe Louis Arena, allowing his adoring fans of their father to pay respects.
The home of the Detroit Red Wings, the team the Hall of Famer played for during much of his career, will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. -- in a nod to his No. 9 jersey -- for a visitation. Howe's body was expected to lie inside the arena.
A live video stream of the visitation has been setup by the Red Wings.
Fans can park in the Riverfront Executive Lot (located directly west of Joe Louis Arena) or in the Joe Louis Arena Garage (900 W. Jefferson Ave.) and enter the building at street level through the arena's west entrance. The Howe Family will be present to greet the public, and Gordie Howe will lie in state inside the arena bowl.
After paying respects at ice level, the public will have the option to head to the concourse level of the arena to view the Gordie Howe statue. A member of the Red Wings video team will also be stationed on the concourse level for fans who wish to share a memory of Gordie Howe.
Those who wish to pay their respects but cannot attend the visitation can join the thousands who have already shared their Mr. Hockey stories on the Red Wings' "Gordie Howe Tributes" fan page at Facebook.com/GordieHoweTributes.
Howe died Friday at the age of 88. His four children chose to allow the public to attend his visitation and funeral.
Mark Howe, one of his sons and a fellow member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, says his father would have wanted fans to access to the memorials because of his connection with them.
Howe's funeral is also open to the public. It takes place at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament (9844 Woodward Ave.) in Detroit.
Murray Howe, another son, told The Associated Press that his father will be cremated and his brain will not be studied for possible concussion trauma.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation be made to one of the following charitable organizations:
• The Gordie Howe Traumatic Brain Injury Initiative (www.ghi4tbi.org or mail a check to ProMedica Foundations, 5217 Monroe St., Suite A-1, Toledo, OH 43623)
•The Howe Foundation (3128 Walton Blvd., #255, Rochester Hills, MI 48309)
•The Gordie Howe Fund for Alzheimer's Research (Saskatoon Community Foundation, 101-308 Fourth Ave. North, Saskatoon, SK Canada, S7K 2L7)
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