Hospital releases details of Joe Paterno's death

STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) - Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was surrounded by family when he died 9:25 a.m. on Sunday of metastatic small cell carcinoma of the lung, the hospital said in a statement.

Details of the death of Paterno, 85, were released by Mount Nittany Medical Center, which sits in the shadow of Beaver Stadium, where he became the winningest coach in college football history before he was fired amid a child abuse scandal involving an assistant that scarred his reputation.

"On January 22, 2012 at 9:25 a.m., Joseph V. Paterno died of metastatic small cell carcinoma of the lung at Mount Nittany Medical Center, State College, Pennsylvania," the hospital said in a statement.

"Joe was surrounded by his family at the time of his passing, and they request privacy during this difficult time."

(Reporting by Dave Warner; Writing By Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Daniel Trotta)