Eugene Knaiz, an orphan, a child of the Depression and a sailor in wartime, took most of life's hardest punches before he turned 30.

He survived until age 91. Mr. Knaiz died Tuesday at the VA's H. John Heinz III Progressive Care Center in O'Hara, where he was being treated for pressure ulcers. Until recently, he had lived with his daughter, Judy Knaiz, in Wilkinsburg.

Mr. Knaiz never knew his own parents. His daughter said he was orphaned at 16 months, then lived with an aunt. At age 4, he moved to St. Paul Orphanage in Carnegie, where he spent his boyhood.

His first notable success was as a football player at St. Luke High School in Carnegie. He quarterbacked winning teams in the mid-1930s, his daughter said. Mr. Knaiz liked to say that football prepared him for any challenge that life presented.

After high school, he eventually went to work for H.J. Heinz Co., then served in the Navy for a year toward the end of World War II. He held the rank of seaman first class, according to military records.

After his discharge from the Navy in 1946, he returned to Heinz, where he worked until his retirement in 1980. In all, he spent 44 years with the company, his daughter said.

Having lived through the Depression and war, he made a point of never dwelling on negatives. Friends and family said they never heard him speak an unkind word about anyone.

One of his interests was attending the theater, partly because of his daughter's successes in the entertainment industry.

Judy Knaiz portrayed Gussie Granger and Ernestina Simple in the 1969 movie "Hello, Dolly!" She worked as an actress for 14 years.

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Knaiz is survived by two stepsons, Louis and Richard Zegarelli.

Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow at Charles W. Trenz Funeral Home, Penn Hills. A Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in St. Bernadette Church, Monroeville.