Gordie Howe’s family opens visitation and funeral to public

DETROIT – Gordie Howe’s visitation and funeral will be open to the public.

The visitation is scheduled for Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. – in a nod to his No. 9 jersey – at Joe Louis Arena, the home of the Detroit Red Wings, the team Howe played for during much of his Hall of Fame career that started in 1946 and ended in 1980.

Howe’s family plans to greet the public in the arena, where he will lie in repose.

His funeral will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit.

The man known as “Mr. Hockey” died Friday. He was 88.

Murray Howe wrote in a text to the Associated Press that his father will be cremated and his brain will not be studied for possible concussion trauma. The family has requested donations be made to the Gordie Howe Traumatic Brain Injury Initiative, the Howe Foundation or the Gordie Howe Fund for Alzheimer’s Research in lieu of flowers.

Howe set NHL marks with 801 goals and 1,850 points that held up until Wayne Gretzky came along. Gretzky tweeted that Howe was the greatest hockey player ever and the nicest man he ever met.