STATE COLLEGE, Pa.
Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno will be buried Wednesday, and his family has scheduled three days of public memorial events this week.
Paterno died Sunday at age 85, less than three months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
In a schedule released by a family spokesman, the first public viewing will be held Tuesday, a 10-hour session starting at 1 p.m. at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the Penn State campus.
Another viewing will take place for four hours Wednesday starting at 8 a.m. A private funeral service is scheduled for 2 p.m. that day.
Finally, a memorial service will be held Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Jordan Center, the basketball arena next to Beaver Stadium.
On Monday, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has ordered the state’s flags lowered to half-staff at state facilities through Paterno’s burial.
The Hall of Fame coach’s death has prompted an outpouring of tributes and remembrances in honor of his legacy as one of the greatest coaches in the history of college football. Penn State fans and alumni have come to University Park to honor Paterno’s legacy at the bronze statue of him outside of Beaver Stadium.
During his 46-year career, Paterno achieved the Division I coaching record with 409 career victories. Penn State won more football games under Paterno’s leadership than any other coach in history and team was ranked No. 1 academically out of the top 25 football teams in 2009 and 2011 by the New America Foundation’s Academic Bowl Championship Series. Beaver Stadium was renovated and enlarged six times during his tenure.
Paterno was fired in November following the arrest of a former longtime assistant on child sex-abuse charges. The university’s board of trustees cited Paterno’s failure to report one alleged assault to police as a chief reason for his ouster.
In addition to his wife, Sue, he is survived by the couple’s five children: Diana, Joseph Jr. “Jay”, Mary Kay, David and Scott, and 17 grandchildren. All of their children are Penn State graduates, and Jay Paterno was the quarterbacks coach at Penn State until earlier this month.
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