Joseph Salamon

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Obituary: Joseph C. Salamon / The piano man from Brookline who cheered up many

By Dan Majors / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

In the days before karaoke, many Pittsburghers who wanted to sing in front of a bar full of happy patrons would find their way to Gallagher's Pub in Market Square, where Joseph C. Salamon would be at the piano holding court. Mr. Salamon, who spent nearly 30 years of weekends tickling the ivories there and at D'Amico's Place in Bloomfield, died of pneumonia Wednesday at St. Clair Hospital in Mt. Lebanon. He was 87.

Born in Manchester on the North Side to parents who had met in the church choir, Mr. Salamon was the youngest of eight children. He learned to play piano from the nuns at the schools he attended.

"He grew up playing the piano, and he loved it," his daughter, Roseann Ladeda of Mt. Lebanon, said. Ms. Ladeda recounted a story of when her father was 14 years old and told his parents that he had gotten a job playing piano in a fancy garden. On a lark, they drove by the address one night and found only an abandoned, boarded-up building.

When they questioned him about it later, he admitted he was playing in a strip club, Ms. Ladeda said. It was a short-lived engagement for a young man whose parents envisioned him becoming a priest.

Mr. Salamon graduated from Oliver High School in 1941 and enrolled at St. Vincent College with the intention of joining the priesthood. But when he changed his mind, his parents told them they no longer would finance his education.

Mr. Salamon then joined the Army, serving as a truck and Jeep driver in France, Belgium and Germany, where he was among the troops that liberated a concentration camp. His daughter said he carried memories of that experience the rest of his life.

He also found time to play piano to entertain his fellow enlisted men, some of whom joined him by forming a group. Upon being discharged in 1946, Mr. Salamon, who had been stabbed in the back during hand-to-hand combat, was awarded the Purple Heart. He returned home to the North Side, where he married Rose Rogus, a woman he had met on the church bowling team.

In 1951, the couple moved to Brookline, where Mr. Salamon took up a career as an insurance salesman with several companies. The work involved a lot of traveling, but he was never very far away from a piano.

For a while, Mr. Salamon teamed with a friend, Tom Carmichael, for an act they called "Music and Laffs," doing comedy and music shows around Pittsburgh. Mr. Carmichael had the better singing voice, Ms. Ladeda said; her father was the comedian and piano player.

In the early 1970s, Mr. Salamon stopped in at Gallagher's Pub in Market Square. He would be a regular feature at the piano there on Wednesdays and weekends for years.

"He had a million songs in his head," his daughter said. "He didn't even have to look at the music."

Joan Ammon of Brookline got to know Mr. Salamon while singing in the church choir with him and his wife. Mr. Salamon told her that if she really enjoyed singing, he could get her an agent to line up engagements. "We were performing at ladies' clubs, local country clubs and fraternal organizations," Ms. Ammon said. "Joe got a lot of people involved with that kind of thing.

"We mostly did a prepared act, but Joe spent all those years playing in piano bars. Everyone loves piano bars, and everyone loves to sing. His personality was so wonderful. He was a comedian, too, and would make people laugh. And then he would encourage them to sing along."

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Salamon is survived by daughter Mary Salamon-Moro of Mt. Lebanon and son Joseph D. Salamon of Buffalo, N.Y.; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Beinhauer Mortuary handled arrangements. A Mass was celebrated Saturday at the Church of the Resurrection, Brookline. A veterans funeral will be held at 2 p.m. today at Christ the Redeemer Cemetery in West View. Donations may be made to Baptist Homes Charitable Funds, 489 Castle Shannon Blvd., Pittsburgh 15234.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 24, 2010

SALAMON JOSEPH C.

Age 87, longtime Brookline resident, on September 22, 2010. Beloved husband of the late Rose R. Salamon; loving father of Roseann (James) Ladeda, Mary Salamon-Moro (Robert Moro) and Joseph D. (Deborah) Salamon; proud grandfather of Danielle (Brett) Pierce, Joseph M. (Melissa) Salamon and Janelle M. Salamon; delighted great-grandfather of Liam Michael Salamon; also survived by many loving nieces, nephews and friends. Joe is remembered as the "King of Sing-Along" for many years at Gallagher's Pub in Market Square and D'Amicos Restaurant in Bloomfield. Arrangements by Beinhauer's, 412-531-4000. Visitation private. His life will be celebrated with a Mass of Christian Burial on Saturday, September 25 at Noon in Resurrection Church, 1100 Creedmoor Ave., Brookline. Everyone please meet at Church. Inurnment Monday, Sept. 27 at 2 p.m. at Christ Our Redeemer, North Side Catholic Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Baptist Homes, Charitable Funds, 489 Castle Shannon Blvd., Pgh., PA 15234

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, September 24, 2010