Many of the items were from Gatt's collection, loaned to showcase the remarkable span of Howe's life and career.
The pallbearers and family members met the people who came seemingly forever, shaking hands, offering consolation to those who had come to do the consoling yet were overcome by grief when they reached the front of the line.
A half-hour before family and their most special guests met near a hearse that pulled into Joe Louis Arena, Marty Howe considered the day ahead, and the Wednesday funeral that likely would be a crowbar in the chest of the Howe family.
And then he smiled.
His mischievous father, he said, sometimes would go into someone's house and autograph something, just for the fun of it.
The Howes, Mark would say in the receiving line, knew the adrenaline would stop flowing later this week, when the tributes were done and a funeral had been held. He expected that might be the hardest thing.
For now, Mark and his family and many special guests were buoyed by the love, so much love, washing over a father, grandfather, teammate, opponent, friend and legend.
Three sons and their fellow pallbearers never will forget that they took the great Gordie Howe on his final walk through a building that, on this day, was not a hockey arena but rather a house of worship.