Arthur Karpus

Arthur Joe Karpus

Karpus from 1918 football team portrait
Date of birth	(1898-01-16)January 16, 1898
Place of birth	Michigan
Date of death	March 1983 (1983-04) (aged 85)
Place of death	Bay City, Michigan
Career information
College	Michigan

Arthur Joe Karpus (January 16, 1898 – March 1983) was an American football, basketball and baseball player. He attended the University of Michigan from 1917 to 1923, winning a total of seven varsity letters, three in basketball, three in baseball and one in football. He played for Big Ten Conference championship teams in football (1918), baseball (1919) and basketball (1921). He was captain of the 1920–21 Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team that won the school's first conference championship in basketball. He was Michigan's leading scorer in basketball during both his junior and senior seasons. Karpus later played three years of minor league baseball from 1921 to 1923. After graduating from Michigan, Karpus worked as a mechanical engineer. He was employed by the Michigan State Highway Commission from approximately 1937 until his retirement in 1967.

Karpus was born in 1898 and raised in Bay City and Grayling, Michigan. His father, Stephen Karpus, emigrated to the United States in 1889 and worked as a sawmill hand in Bay City. His mother, Helen (Kitze) Karpus was also an immigrant. In 1900, Karpus was living in Bay City with his parents and three older sisters.

Karpus enrolled at the University of Michigan where he played for the football, basketball and baseball teams. As a freshman in 1917, he played at the end position for Michigan's all-freshman football team.

As a sophomore during the 1918–19 academic year, Karpus lettered in football, basketball, and baseball. He played at the end and halfback positions for the undefeated 1918 Michigan Wolverines football team that won the Big Ten Conference and national championships. He also played center for the 1919 basketball team. In February 1919, he made a basket in the second overtime period to give Michigan a 19–17 win over Michigan Agricultural College (now Michigan State). He also scored 13 of Michigan's points in a 38–20 win over Ohio State later that same month. He also played third base for the undefeated 1919 baseball team that won the Big Ten Conference championship.