As the world bade adieu to Michael Jackson at a memorial service in Los Angeles Tuesday,, people in the Philadelphia area paid him homage in a quieter, more personal way.

It was a day not of crowds gathered in remembrance, but of individuals at computers at home or at work, folks watching video on their cell phones, passersby pausing to gaze at public screens. And local fans gathered in a candlelight vigil in front of the Uptown Theater in North Philadelphia, where the Jackson Five performed in the '60s.

The L.A. service was broadcast on the Jumbotron at the Piazza at Schmidts. Evan Osenfeldt, 27, of Northern Liberties, stopped while walking his dog. He described himself as a fan. "Who wasn't?" Osenfeldt said, recalling how as a child he used to dance around in a beaded jacket and silver glove.

At nearby Darling's Diner, hostess Bethany Willis watched what she called "a part of history" on two of the restaurant's three televisions.

By staff request, the service was shown on a rollaway TV in the lobby of the Free Library of Philadelphia. The assembly varied from five to more than 20 as people stopped in on lunch breaks or to cool off.

Angela Willie of the library's business department dabbed away tears as she watched Stevie Wonder perform "Never Dreamed You'd Leave in Summer." She said that she'd grown up watching Jackson and that the song was appropriate because "no one really knew who he was."

"To me it just shows what a pivotal figure was in American history," said Sara Strickland, who works in the library's communication department.

That place in history was much on the minds of people at local malls. At the Best Buy in Plymouth Meeting, Tanya Baird, 39, of Philadelphia, said:

"He had an impact on so many different genres across the board. I didn't realize how much of an impact until his passing and the reflections of so many artists who have sampled his music."

At the Plymouth Meeting Mall, Gabrielle Aiello, 16, recalled the days she and her older brothers imitated Jackson dance moves in the basement of their Plymouth Meeting home. They even purchased a red jacket like the one Jackson wore in his "Beat It" video.

"I think a lot of people followed what he did, since he was the King of Pop," Aiello said. "You can see it in how many people showed up to the funeral and how many actors and singers are upset by his death."

In Lindenwold, Center Stage Entertainment hosted 15 to 20 people around lunchtime to watch the memorial on TV, said office manager Andrew Kita. Speakers in front of the Laurel Road building broadcast the event from an Internet live-stream.

Jackson songs played before the service. Drivers - some ignoring the changing steetlights - stopped their cars and listened, waved hands and shouted requests for favorite Jackson songs, Kita said, while landscapers across the street danced.

At the Uptown Theater, Jackson posters, flyers, and flowers adorned the walls.

"We felt that people needed to have a little bit more closure about his passing away," said Aissia Richardson, vice president of operations for the Uptown Entertainment and Development Corp.

The venerable theater, long part of what used to be called the "chitlin' circuit" up and down the East Coast and across the South, closed in 1991 but is being turned into a venue for R&B, hip-hop, and comedy. Jackson fans started to gather there well before sundown.

Contact staff writer John Timpane at 215-854-4406, jt@phillynews.com, or twitter.com/jtimpane. Inquirer staff writers Megan DeMarco, Kristin Holmes, Traver Riggins, and Liz Wagner also contributed to this report.