Midweek foot traffic at the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center is typically light. But Wednesday was not a typical day.

During a week when people from all over the country will flock to New York City hoping to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis, baseball fans from near and far made a pilgrimage of their own to the campus of Montclair State University in Little Falls, N.J., upon learning that Berra, the Yankee icon, had died late Tuesday night at the age of 90.

“I came here today because my heart told me to,” said Bob Groder, a 57-year-old Mets fan from Springfield, N.J., who although a Montclair State alum, had never been to the museum until Wednesday afternoon. “Yogi just stands for kindness and respect. You want respect in life. He gave it. He got it. He was just one of those types of people. … He played in the era when baseball was baseball.”

A steady flow of fans — of the Yankees, of the Mets, of baseball, and of Berra — passed through the 17-year-old museum, which waived its normal admission fee in Berra’s memory. Outside, workers hustled to erect an American flag backdrop behind the statue of Berra that, by midafternoon, had been surrounded with flowers and memorabilia including a baseball, a Yankees cap, and, curiously, a Bobby Richardson trading card. Two bouquets — one carnations, the other roses — rested in the statue’s left arm.

Among those who came bearing gifts were Joshua Raymond and his 9-year-old son, Max, of North Caldwell. Raymond, 46, met Berra when he was 18 and organized a fundraiser at Montclair Kimberley Academy to help fight Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Raymond keeps a photo of himself and Berra, taken in Berra’s dining room, in his cellphone.

“Yogi was very important to me,” he said. “I have always been a big fan, not just because he was a Yankee but because of what he did to help me. Yogi came, he signed autographs and he donated his time.

“I have been here before but it’s been a long time. I wanted to be here today just to pay my respects to the family and to Yogi.”

John Tabor, who was raised in New Jersey, made the trip from Lake Worth, Fla., but the timing was more coincidence than anything. He said he had been planning the trip for about a week.

“He was my favorite player,” said Tabor, 63. “More than Don Mattingly. More than Derek Jeter. … I was hoping he’d go on for a few more years. He had a fantastic career. No one can take that away from him.

“Ninety years. He had a good run.”

David Kaplan, the museum’s director of programs, said he saw Berra earlier Tuesday.

“I’m relieved he’s not in any discomfort anymore,” he said. “He died peacefully in his sleep and I’m glad for that.”

Kaplan said the museum received emails from all over the country once Berra’s death was announced.

“The outpouring has just been outstanding,” he said. “We knew he touched a lot of lives, but nothing like this. … He really transcended the sport. He goes beyond that. He’s one of the few people you can say that about.”

Said Groder: “It’s like losing a member of the family.”