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The brothers stood side-by-side Tuesday amid the grief-stricken masses. They shook hands with strangers in Penn State sweatshirts and "Joe Knows Football" T-shirts. They exchanged hugs, stories and slaps on the back with teary-eyed friends.

In each of those instances, in each of those individual encounters, Scott and Jay Paterno mourned their father with the people who said they loved Joe, too: the fans who packed Beaver Stadium for his football games and the alumni and the students who benefited from his commitment to academics and millions of dollars in contributions to the university.

More than 20,000 people passed through the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center during the first nine hours of a public viewing for the legendary former Penn State coach, who died Sunday at 85 following a brief battle with lung cancer.

The viewing is scheduled to continue at 8 a.m. today before a private funeral where Paterno's family and invited guests, including Nike founder Phil Knight and prominent college football coaches, are expected to say their final goodbye.

Some of the mourners Tuesday paused in front of an oversized portrait of Paterno, black-and-white in a shirt, tie and sweater. Some genuflected in front of the casket, an ornate oak topped with dozens of white roses tethered in blue ribbon. Many came away in tears.

Luzerne County Judge William H. Amesbury traveled from Wilkes-Barre to pay his respects to the man he called an "icon" and a "gentleman." Amesbury noted the simplicity of the viewing -- the lone portrait, the flowers, the rotating pair of current and former football players standing guard, one at either end of the casket.

"It was beautiful," the soft-spoken Amesbury said. "Much like his life, it was truly understated."

Paterno's family, including Scott and Jay, the former Penn State quarterbacks coach, attended a private viewing Tuesday morning. Current members of the football team joined them about an hour later, followed by members of Paterno's coaching staff and more than 1,500 former players.

Among the coaches and former players: Mike McQueary, the former graduate assistant who went to Paterno in 2002 after witnessing former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old boy in a team shower.

Paterno said he took the allegation to his superior, former athletic director Tim Curley. He told The Washington Post 10 days before his death that he expected Curley to resolve the matter.

Members of the Penn State Board of Trustees, in a series of interviews last week, said Paterno's lack of swift action led to their unanimous Nov. 9 vote to fire him.

Gary Snyder, a Penn State season ticket holder for 37 years, said the board used the child sex abuse scandal as an excuse to remove Paterno.

"There's no way in God's name that man did anything wrong," Snyder, 75, said through tears after passing through the Pasquerilla center. "Joe Paterno was Penn State. The trustees wanted a reason to throw him overboard and they found it. Now they realize the mistakes that they made."

For 33 years, Snyder traveled to Penn State's away and bowl games too, until heath issues limited his travel. His wife, Janet, accompanied him to all of them.

"I'm not the football fan," Janet Snyder said. "He's the football fan. I admired Paterno more for what he did for the players and the things he stood for. I don't know how many other men would stand up and protect their boys, but yet still be firm with them and make them do what they have to do."

Paterno's contributions went well beyond the football field. He and his wife, Sue, donated millions of dollars to the university, including $100,000 weeks after his firing. Their support helped build the Pasquerilla center and a section of the campus library, across the street.

"He was such a great coach and a great person," Derek Lavender, a Penn State freshman from Wrentham, Mass., said. "He meant so much to the university, putting so much money into it, and a lot of people come here for him, for the football games."

The public viewing started just after 2 p.m. At times the line of mourners waiting to get inside the Pasquerilla center stretched for five blocks, past the campus creamery where Peachy Paterno remains a featured flavor. At one point, the wait to reach the front of the line was estimated at three hours.

By 6 p.m., campus police said, more than 10,000 people had passed through the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center. After a brief lull, the line again extended and, by 8 p.m., mourners were waiting an estimated two hours.

Tom Bradley, the former defensive coordinator who replaced Paterno for the final four games of the season, shook hands with hundreds of mourners, including Amesbury.

Just 10 weeks ago, on the eve of a game at Ohio State, Bradley told the team of Paterno's cancer diagnosis. At the time, Paterno's family described the illness as treatable and said doctors were optimistic that he could make a full recovery.

"I didn't expect it this quick," Bradley said. "When I got the news Saturday night and I was getting calls from people that I knew were pretty reliable sources that things weren't going right for him -- there was always a part of me that thought coach would figure out a way to get out of there, somehow, some way."

Paterno, a fighter throughout his career, succumbed at 9:25 a.m. Sunday. His cancer, an aggressive small-cell carcinoma, had spread beyond the lung.

"People don't know the great man that we lost," Bradley said. "It's not about the football victories. There's so many victories that he's had with people's lives, untold stories. Maybe someday they'll all come out."

msisak@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2061

TONIGHT

--Penn State's Wilkes-Barre campus will host a memorial gathering to celebrate Joe Paterno's life at 8 tonight at the Student Commons Building off University Drive in Lehman Township.

--At the Penn State Hazleton campus, a candlelight vigil remembering Paterno will begin at 5 tonight in front of the Nittany Lion statue on the campus off Route 93 in Hazleton.

THURSDAY

--A memorial service for Paterno at the Bryce Jordan Center in State College will be broadcast live online at 2 p.m. and can be viewed in the Bierly Auditorium, S101, in the Penn State Science Center in Lehman Township.

All are welcome to join the events co-sponsored by the Penn State Wilkes-Barre Student Government Association and the Alumni Society.