His three sons John, Kym and David acted as pallbearers for the 77-year-old who died last week of the crippling motor neurone disease.
The state funeral, attended by his widow Raylee and his five children, remembered the former miner as one of the country's best loved artists.
Such a large crowd came to pay their respects to Pro Hart, dubbed the “brushman of the bush” that the outback city’s entertainment centre was set up for the service, one of the few venues in Broken Hill capable of accommodating the crowd numbers.
Up there with Vegemite
Family members wept as they heard tributes Pro Hart, an icon of the dusty red plains of western New South Wales where he lived, worked and died.
Pro Hart was remembered as a devout Christian whose generosity was legendary, a "people's painter" who died a millionaire but gave away many more millions than he kept.
His friend and local pastor Tim Hall said Hart was happiest in a pair of old shorts and a T-shirt covered in paint.
"I don't know if he ever owned a tie, he was the most generous man I ever met. I think he was truly a genius. He deserves to be put up on the shelves of our minds with Bradman, Phar Lap and Vegemite," he said.
State funeral irony
New South Wales Justice Minister Tony Kelly, representing Premier Morris Iemma, said there was a certain irony in a state funeral for someone who was disdainful of official pomp and solemnity.
"But the simple truth is that few Australians stood in higher popular affection," Mr Kelly said.
"Pro Hart understood and caught the character, the spirit, the humour and humanity of Australian outback life. His art revealed a deep love for this country and its people.”
"His reward is a secure and lasting place in the ranks of our greatest Australians," Mr Kelly said.
Hart’s work “worthy”
Another one of the speakers of the service, local MP Peter Black, took issue with the national and state galleries in Australia, who had not hung Pro Hart's work.
Mr Black said if it was good enough for Prince Philip to buy three and for Lyndon Johnson to hang one in the White House, then it was good enough for Pro Hart to be hung in every gallery in Australia.
Mr Black also had a message for the art industry “elites” of Canberra and Sydney who shunned Pro Hart’s work.
"You're not going to get a state funeral," he told them, "and your artworks, after going on some of these wretched tours, are going to be consigned to some dump where they belong, while Pro Hart's are going to hang on wall after wall in Australia and internationally.”
It was a day to honour the artist who said simply that he painted "Aussies doing things", but did it so well that he had to attach his own DNA to his works to counter fakes.
Along streets lined by hundred’s of the city’s residents Pro Hart's coffin was taken to the Broken Hill cemetery.
The procession included two Rolls Royces from Pro Hart’s vintage car collection, one of which he’d colourfully painted featuring iconic Australian scenes.
Pro Hart's service included his four favourite hymns, starting with Amazing Grace and ending with Just As I Am.
And it took place in his favourite weather, the heat and sunshine of Broken Hill he loved so much "because the paint dries quicker".