Background
Kustus was the son of Anthony Kustus and Elizabeth Flemming Ponke.
Kustus was the son of Anthony Kustus and Elizabeth Flemming Ponke.
Tuberculosis forced his early retirement from the game, and contributed to his death at the age of 33. July was a baseball player who played outfield for various amateur teams in Detroit beginning around 1901. He played professional baseball for the 1909 Brooklyn Superbas who later became the Brooklyn Dodgers.
He had a short career as a professional baseball player because he debuted April 17, 1909 and his last game was July 10, 1909.
He came back to Detroit where he played amateur baseball again until 1914. Joseph "July" died in the Eloise Sanitarium in Nankin Township, Michigan April 27, 1916 of pulmonary tuberculosis.
He had been a patient there for only 16 days. Many patients in the end stages of tuberculosis were admitted to the sanitarium because it was the only option available to them.
Joseph was admitted April 11, 1916 and was only 33 years 7 months and 22 days old when he died.
His occupation is listed as a laborer in the Eloise death ledger book The grocery located at 1249 Mack Avenue. was called the J.R. Grocery. Some baseball web sites list his burial place as Detroit Memorial Park West in Redford, Michigan, but July is buried in Sacred Heart of Saint Mary Cemetery (also known as Greenwood) in Detroit near his brother"s grave.
His grave marker was deteriorated and mostly unreadable when it was examined in the 1990s.
Over the years a sycamore tree has grown around and right through his headstone damaging it into pieces, leaving only the base which is now embedded into the tree.
