I agree! We held a similar event after my father in law's passing last year. He'd retired from Arizona's Game Dept, and had made many, many friends through his years. He brought his young family to this area, raised three kids here, EVERYONE had a story about him. We were devastated by his loss, as were many of the Old Timers who called him 'friend'. We wanted to honor his legacy with happy memories of a truly remarkable man.
I used science fair project boards to create photo displays of his life, from childhood through his 'golden ages'. Those boards sparked so many memories and stories. It was such an incredible day. And the best part was that he would have thoroughly enjoyed every second of it, and I beleive he DID enjoy it.
Now his grandchildren's last memories of grandpa are from the day we honored him, not the day we lost him.