HOUSTON—Houstonians who filed past pioneering heart surgeon Michael DeBakey’s body, lying in repose in Houston City Hall on Tuesday, said it was a fitting tribute to see him dressed in his familiar uniform: surgical scrubs and cap and white coat.

“I thought that was very neat. It’s who he was,” said Donna Roth, an attorney and one of the many people who filed past DeBakey’s coffin to say goodbye.

Patients who said they benefited from the cardiovascular surgical techniques he helped create and others who simply wanted to pay their respects filed past his flag-draped coffin.

Officials said it is the first time a Houstonian has been given the honor of lying in repose at City Hall. DeBakey’s family requested it.

DeBakey died of natural causes Friday at the age of 99. His funeral is today.

Inside City Hall, DeBakey’s coffin was flanked by two U.S. Army soldiers as well as a third honor guard who was a member of the medical community. Doctors, surgeons and other hospital staff took turns by the side of DeBakey’s body as an honorary honor guard member. DeBakey served in the Army during World War II.

In addition to his scrubs and coat, DeBakey also wore his glasses and clasped a small crystal cross in his hands.

DeBakey’s family requested he be dressed in his scrubs and white coat, said Kimberlee Barbour, a spokesman for Baylor College of Medicine, where DeBakey had a long and storied career.

Houston city spokesman Patrick Trahan said Mayor Bill White approved that DeBakey’s body lie in repose after receiving a request from the family.

Outside City Hall, at least eight large wreaths and three bouquets greeted visitors who filed past his coffin.

Judy Ascencios, 66, said she came to thank DeBakey for helping develop the surgical techniques that saved her husband Aquiles’ life. Her husband, also a doctor, had quadruple-bypass surgery three years ago.

“He wouldn’t be here today if it hadn’t been for the innovations and ideas of Dr. DeBakey,” she said. “He was a great man.”

Aquiles Ascencios, 73, said he was glad to be alive today.

“I feel great. Thank God,” he said. “I have a great respect for Dr. DeBakey. I will miss him dearly.”

Above his coffin, a video chronicling DeBakey’s life silently played on a large screen.

DeBakey’s many accomplishments over his more than 70-year career include inventing a major component of the heart-lung machine, which ushered in the era of open-heart surgery; developing artificial hearts and heart pumps to assist patients waiting for transplants; and helping create more than 70 surgical instruments.

His patients included such famous individuals as the Duke of Windsor, the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan, and presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.

Elisa Barajas, who worked at The Methodist Hospital, whose heart and vascular center bears DeBakey’s name, said she can’t drive anymore so she told her daughter “you need to take me to see him.”

Barajas recalled how when she worked at Methodist, first as a nursing attendant and later as an insurance biller, she would run into DeBakey.

“I didn’t know him personally. But he would check on his patients and I would open the door for him,” the 72-year-old said, adding with a school girl giggle, “I got to even touch him.”