Paterno leaves behind his wife, Sue, and five children: Diana, Jay, Mary Kay, David, and Scott. He also had 17 grandchildren.
“He died as he lived,” his family said in a statement. “He fought hard until the end, stayed positive, thought only of others and constantly reminded everyone of how blessed his life had been. His ambitions were far reaching, but he never believed he had to leave this Happy Valley to achieve them. He was a man devoted to his family, his university, his players and his community.”
It was first revealed that Paterno had lung cancer on Nov. 18, when his son, Scott, released a statement on his father’s health. The long-time Nittany Lions coach was admitted to Mount Nittany Medical Center on Jan. 13 after having complications with his treatment for lung cancer.
Family spokesman Dan McGinn said that Paterno experienced further health complications on Saturday in a statement to the Associated Press.
The Board of Trustees fired Paterno as head coach on Nov. 9 after child-sex abuse charges were filed against former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky. Paterno was not charged with any crime, but questions were raised about whether he could have done more to follow up information provided of the alleged crimes.
According to the grand jury presentment, Paterno told his superiors of reports given to him by then-graduate assistant coach Mike McQueary in 2002 regarding an alleged sexual encounter between Sandusky and a young boy in a Lasch Building locker room shower.
In his 45-plus years as Penn State head coach, Paterno amassed 409 wins — his final victory coming against Illinois on Oct. 29, 2011 to pass Eddie Robinson for the most coaching wins in Division I history.
Paterno coached Penn State to five undefeated seasons, two national championships and a record 24 bowl victories.
While his teams had success on the field, Paterno pushed his players to be true student-athletes. He helped Penn State become one of the top FBS teams academically, as he coached 47 Academic All-Americans during his time as head coach.
In the statement, his family requested that in lieu of flowers or gifts, donations be made to the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania or the Penn State-THON (The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon).