Football champ turning 101
Joseph Biss of Wasington, who will turn 101 years old on Saturday, is flanked by his sons, Victor, left, and John during a visit at Presbyterian SeniorCare.
Joseph Biss, formerly of Canton Township, during his playing days in the 1930s with the Washington Generals
Joseph Biss was wearing a black baseball cap with white embroidery that read: 1915 – Joe Biss – Limited Edition.
But Biss didn’t need the hat to prove he is someone special.
The lifelong Washington resident will turn 101 years old on March 19, and is the lone surviving member of the Washington Generals semipro team that won the American Conference championship in 1936. The team was part of the Western Pennsylvania Football Circuit, which competed from 1890 to 1940.
According to Biss, cities and clubs throughout the area fielded teams, and some cities, like Washington, had multiple teams from different sections of town. In addition to the Generals, who were from the Goat Hill area of Washington, Biss said there were the Trojans and Olympians.
Biss played halfback for the Generals, and according to his sons, Victor and John Biss, he was a “premier scatback.”
“I thought I was,” Biss said when asked if he was fast. “I loved football when I played football. Football was one of the popular things.”
The circuit was one of the longest-lived paying football entities to operate outside the auspices of the NFL. Biss said he made $6.50 per game, and all of the money went right into the bank. Biss last played for the Generals in 1939.
John Biss said the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, dedicates an exhibit to the semipro teams, periodically switching out teams. When he visited the Hall of Fame, John Biss was disappointed the Generals weren’t the featured team; instead, it was Youngstown, Ohio.
Joseph Biss was born March 19, 1915, to Peter and Victoria Biss. He had four siblings, all of whom are deceased: Matthew, who died at age 58; Frank, 99; and Al, 94; and Mary A. Biss Kosek, 82.
In 1933, Biss graduated from Trinity High School. It was the same year he met Helen Karoleski, the woman with whom he would celebrate 64 years of marriage before her death in 2008 at age 91. The couple dated for nine years before getting married Sept. 4, 1944.
Before moving to Presbyterian SeniorCare in recent years, Biss had lived his entire life in Goat Hill, Canton Township, where he maintained one of the most prolific gardens around.
Victor Biss said there was no grass in his father’s yard, and Joe Biss quickly chimed in, “and no weeds.” The yard was filled with nothing but vegetables and flowers.
“I had the best garden in my block,” he said.
He learned how to garden from his mother, who lived next door.
“That’s how my folks made a living,” Biss said, noting that they grew vegetables and raised chickens and ducks.
Biss grew all his plants from seed, then sold his flowers and vegetables to supplement his income. His sons said that he never forgot a buyer, either, associating their names with what they bought – even if it was a few years between purchases.
“It’s relaxing to work in the garden,” Biss said.
Gardening, however, was just one of Biss’ many interests away from his full-time job at Washington Tinplate Co., which later became known as Drakenfeld.
He played on the company’s baseball team, and he loved to sing and polka.
“I was the best guy on the floor,” Biss said with a chuckle. “I still enjoy listening to polka music.”
He even sang at The Meadows Lounge when he was 95 on Elvis Presley’s birthday with perfomer Billy Mancini.
In addition to his sons, Biss has five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. He’s a member of Holy Trinity National Catholic Church in Washington.