Talking with Augustus "Gus" Caesar Cardarelli is like conversing with a human time capsule.
"He came over from Italy first in 1912" Cardarelli recalled.
"Mother and I came over later when I was eight months old in 1913.
My father came over in February of 1912 he was on a ship that passed within five
miles of where the Titanic went down a few weeks later in April of that year."
Gus graduated from Redstone High School in 1933. He played offensive guard and defensive nose guard for coach
Clyde Smith and the Black Hawks. "I named my son after Coach Smith," Cardarelli said. Gus was an
outstanding player on those Black Hawks teams that included future professional player Frank Filchock, Sam Meloni,
Willie Dileo, George Dileo, Jim Freeman and Al DeFigio. Despite his small stature, Gus was named captain of the
Black Hawks and made the Fayette County all-star team as a lineman.
He has the utmost respect for his old coach - Clyde Smith. "He was great; he was as fine a gentleman as ever walked the
earth," said Cardarelli. Cardarelli was a star lineman but he wasn't very big. He made up for
his lack of size with a big heart. "I was 5-5, 175 pounds, but I was strong," he said.
"I got a scholarship to Kansas State and I took my friend George DiLeo with me. Coach Smith sent us out
to his old coach McMillan," Cardarelli explained. Cardarelli played his next two seasons under Wes Fry.
"I had one of my best games against Marquette in 1934," Cardarelli stated.
I decided to come back to Redstone in 1939 and accepted a teaching and coaching job," Cardarelli said. "My first
year back at Redstone we lost only two games." Cardarelli was an assistant at Redstone and became head coach in 1943.
He had a record of 20-9-3 as a head coach. Cardarelli was particularly fond of his 1943 squad. "That team was
outstanding," he gushed.
Cardarelli had a shot a professional football when the Pittsburgh Steelers came knocking in 1945. Gus had been
teaching and coaching football at Redstone Township High School for seven years when the Steelers' offered him a
contract. "They wanted me to play defense," he recalled, "I went in to talk to their front office
people. Art Rooney said to me, 'I'm offering you a contract for $175 for every game we play." He signed the contract, but never played.
"I couldn't," he replied. "I realized after I signed that there were travel problems getting back and forth to Hershey (the location of the Steelers' training camp) a
nd I knew I had a steady job at Redstone Township High School. So I decided not to play for the
Steelers." He did play some semi pro football for the Brownsville Bulldogs and played on the line and coached the Masontown Pals Club.
Cardarelli continued teaching science (for his first six years) and health at Redstone Township High School
and Brownsville Area High School for a total of 36 years until he retired in 1975.
Gus may be best remembered by a lot of Fayette County kids and parents for Gus's Sporting Goods,
a family business that he started in Republic in 1948. "I got in on the ground floor
with Nike for $500 in 1969," he explained. "I was a top dealer for Nike in the early years.
One newspaper reported that 'In 1981, the tiny store sold over 16,000 pairs of Nike athletic shoes, more
than any single establishment in the U.S.'" Cardarelli got out of the shoe business in the late 1990's.
Gus is 94 and still going strong for a person his age. He and his late wife, Jean O'Brien Cardarelli, who
passed away in 1978, raised two sons (Louie and Clyde) and three daughters (Marion, Olivia and Janice) in the
Redstone Street house where Gus still lives today.
"I thank God for the life I've led. I've had a great life, said Cardarelli.
Athlete, teacher, businessman and philanthropist - Gus Cardarelli wore each of those hats with ease.
The Italian immigrant who was once signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers died Monday at the age of 94 (95, if
he had died in Italy, Cardarelli would have said.)
In two interviews in recent years Cardarelli pointed out to reporters that his age was different depending on the
country where it was calculated.
"In Italy as soon as you're born, you're 1. Here in America you aren't 1 until you complete your first year,"
Cardarelli told local historian and writer Glenn Tunney. In any country one would calculate that Cardarelli's life
was well spent.
Cardarelli taught for 36 years at Redstone Township High School and Brownsville Area High School.
In 1948 Cardarelli opened Gus's Sporting Goods in Republic, which he, his wife and eventually his children, ran in
addition to his teaching and coaching duties. Phil Savini, who served for many years as the president
of the Republic Chamber of Commerce, remembers Cardarelli both as a teacher and as a businessman.
"He was a great guy. As a teacher, he kept you entertained with his stories from when he was in high school and college
and always related them to health," Savini said. "When I was president of the chamber, he was always
supportive of the community. No matter what you needed, he was always forthcoming."
Cardarelli donated athletic shoes, clothing and other items to whomever requested them, Savini said.
"He was also a good friend of the family. He was good friends with my grandparents, as well as
with my father and uncles," Savini said.
And he always had a story to share.
Cardarelli was only 8-months old (American calculation) when he and his mother left Italy to join his father
in America. His father had been working in the Thompson No. 2 mine. The family moved
to Republic, where Cardarelli continued to live for the rest of his life.
Cardarelli attended Redstone High School, where he played football, then went on to play at Kansas State.
In 1939, Cardarelli returned to Republic to accept a teaching and coaching job at Redstone High School.
In 1945, he was offered a contract with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He even signed that contract,
that offered the princely sum of $175 for each regularly scheduled game the team played, but then he realized
he had transportation problems getting to the Steelers training camp, then located in Hershey.
He decided instead to remain in his stable job at Redstone Township High School, teaching science and
health and coaching football, but he kept the single-page contract that he and Art Rooney had signed.
Cardarelli taught until 1975, when he retired at what was by then Brownsville Area High School.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Robert T. Kish Funeral Home in Republic.
Augustus C. "Gus" Cardarelli, age 94, of Republic, Pa., passed away Monday, November 19, 2007.
He was born January 1, 1913, in Peruga, Italy, the son of Mariano Cardarelli and Olivia Proetti
Cardarelli. "Gus" was a retired school teacher from the Brownsville Area School District
after thirty-six years of service.
He also coached Redstone HighSchool football.
He attended Kansas State University making the Big Six Football Team.
In 1945, he signed a contract to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers but family responsibilities
kept him from playing.
He was the owner and operator of Gus's Sporting Goods in Republic.
He was a member of the First Christian Church in Republic.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Jean LaMont Cardarelli in 1978, a sister, Ellen White, a sister
in infancy, Bernadine Cardarelli, and his parents.
Surviving are five children: Marian Mirakian and her husband, Barry, of Stowe, Vermont, Louis
Cardarelli and his wife, Barbara, of LaBelle, Pa., Olivia Cotto of West Yarmouth, Massachusetts,
Clyde Cardarelli and his wife, Paula, of Perryopolis, Pa., and Janice Howard and her husband, Mark, of
Uniontown, Pa.; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Friends will be received in the ROBERT T. KISH FUNERAL HOME, 19 Legion Street, Republic, Pa.,
today from 3 to 9 p.m. and Friday, November 23, from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m., the hour of Service
with the Rev. J. W. Hormell officiating.
Interment will follow in Oak Lawn Cemetery, Uniontown, Pennsylvania.
Please note there will be no visitation Thanksgiving Day. "Gus" was a retired school
teacher from the Brownsville Area School District after thirty-six years of service.
He also coached Redstone HighSchool football.
He attended Kansas State University making the Big Six Football Team.
In 1945, he signed a contract to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers but family responsibilities
kept him from playing.
He was the owner and operator of Gus's Sporting Goods in Republic.
He was a member of the First Christian Church in Republic.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Jean LaMont Cardarelli in 1978, a sister, Ellen
White, a sister in infancy, Bernadine Cardarelli, and his parents.
Surviving are five children: Marian Mirakian and her husband, Barry, of Stowe, Vermont,
Louis Cardarelli and his wife, Barbara, of LaBelle, Pa., Olivia Cotto of West Yarmouth,
Massachusetts, Clyde Cardarelli and his wife, Paula, of Perryopolis, Pa., and Janice Howard
and her husband, Mark, of Uniontown, Pa.; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Friends will be received in the ROBERT T. KISH FUNERAL HOME, 19 Legion Street, Republic,
Pa., today from 3 to 9 p.m. and Friday, November 23, from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m., the
hour of Service with the Rev. J. W. Hormell officiating.
Interment will follow in Oak Lawn Cemetery, Uniontown, Pennsylvania.
Please note there will be no visitation Thanksgiving Day.