FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Joe Paterno Succumbs to Cancer
State College, PA
January 22, 2012 Joseph Vincent “Joe”
“JoePa” Paterno of State College, PA,
passed away at 9:25am on January 22, 2012. According to the Mount Nittany Medical Center his
cause of death was metastatic small cell carcinoma of the lung, a condition he
was diagnosed with the weekend of November 12, 2011.
Paterno was born in 1926
in Brooklyn, NY, to Florence and Angelo Paterno and is survived by his wife,
the former Suzanne Pohland of Latrobe, PA, their five children, Mrs. Diana
Giegerich, Mrs. Mary Kathryn Hort, David, Jay, George, and seventeen
grandchildren.
Joe Paterno worked
for Penn State University for sixty-one years before being fired on November 9,
2011. During his tenure as the head
coach, Paterno coached football teams won 433 total games, both regular season
and bowl games, with Penn State earning two National Collegiate Athletic
Association National Championships and one Big Ten Championship. His statistics were not just limited to wins
on the football field; forty-seven of his football players earned Academic
All-American status, and more than 250 of his players became professional football players.
Joe and Suzanne
Paterno are widely recognized for their philanthropy. In 1997, they gave the university $3.5 million
for faculty positions, scholarships, and two building projects. As co - chairs of the campaign to expand the
Pattee Library of the Penn State University Library System, they raised $14
million and personally donated $250,000.
The Paterno Family Humanities Reading Room of the Pattee Library is
named after the Joe Paterno family.
During the ceremony to name the new wing of the library, Joe said: "I've
said it a hundred times -- a great library is the heart of a great university,
and if we want to remain a big league university, we've got to have a big
league library."
Joe Paterno earned a
number of honors during his lifetime in a variety of areas including:
1986 - Paterno was
the Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year, an honor given for both
sportsmanship and achievement.
1999 - The
Anti-Defamation League (ADL) awarded Joe Paterno its National Heritage Award
for his humanitarianism and philanthropy.
2006 - Joe Paterno
was elected to the College Football Hall of fame.
The funeral
arrangements include two public viewings at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. The first viewing is scheduled on Tuesday,
Jan. 24 from 1:00-11:00 p.m. and the second viewing is scheduled on Wednesday,
Jan. 25 from 8:00 a.m. – 12:00pm. There
will be a private funeral service Wednesday, January 25 at 2:00 p.m.
On Thursday, Jan.
26, a public memorial service, “A Memorial For Joe” will be held at 2:00 p.m.
in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Complete obituary for
Joseph Vincent Paterno (and References) : Joe
Paterno Obituary
Contact: Susan J.
Ryan
Mobile: 239-537-5828
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Hi Susan,
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the FB post is a tad long? Also in the Press Release, you give 433 as the number of games won. This is in dispute as the NCAA vacated 111 wins leaving 298 as the official number.
Good job though