As a choir and about 50 people stood on the front steps, Tom Benson's black casket arrived at Notre Dame Seminary Chapel at 8:57 a.m. Wednesday (March 21) for a reception of the body and vigil service preceding the two-day public visitation and Friday's private funeral.
Benson's widow, Gayle, arrived about 20 minutes prior to the casket, greeting Archbishop Gregory Aymond as well as Alfred Hughes, the previous Archbishop.
Tom Benson, 90, died last Thursday (March 15) after a weeks-long battle with the flu. The public visitation for the former owner of the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans is at Notre Dame Seminary, 2901 South Carrollton Avenue, and runs from 10 a.