Life History

Other facts

Notes

• 1940 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas, 13 April, Ethel, District 1-26, page 6B, Oak Flat School and Church Rd, Hse #101, Rents $200
  Bisswanger, Al Head M W 32 Grade HS-1 b Arkansas same house in 1935 Fisherman
  Bisswanger, Harriet Wife F W 30 Grade 8 b Arkansas same house in 1935 Housekeeper
  Bisswanger, Leonard Son M W 9 Single Grade 3 b Arkansas same house in 1935
  Bisswanger, Charles Son M W 7 Single Grade 3 b Arkansas same house in 1935
  Bisswanger, James Son M W 2 Single Grade 3 b Arkansas
  
  A cousin reports that Charles and Leonard Bisswanger were tall.  And Leonard played professional baseball for a while.
  
  "The first two were rather tall, and Leonard especially so. He played pro baseball."
  --  Kennert Wirt McSwain, email to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 9 June 2014
  
  After a visit to Ethel, including some time with his cousin Bob Bisswaner, Ken further said about Bob's uncle Leonard:
  "Leonard was the tallest if the boys, and an athlete. He played pro baseball with the Detroit Tigers. I dropped by to visit him, just a short distance from the Ethel intersection, before he died. He said he had been roommates with Warren Spahn. I asked him how it was he was so much taller than his brothers. 'They wuz just picked green, I guess.' He had a pear tree beside his house and insisted that we take a bag of them home. Good folks all.  [Leonard's nephew] Bob [Biswanger] said yesterday he gave it up because he got homesick. There's something special about Ethel."
  --  Kennert Wirt McSwain, Facebook comment to Orville Boyd Jenkins, 27 May 2016
  
  See more details about Leonard's baseball career in his obituary below.
  
  A directory listing for Leonard gives us his birth date as well as his address before his death, in the community of Ethel, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  
  U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2
  Leonard Bisswanger
  Birth Date 1 June 1930
  Bellview Rd, Ethel, AR, 72048
  
  U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002
  Leonard Bisswanger
  Residence Ethel, Arkansas, 72048-2048
  Phone 501-282-3271
  Residence Years 1994-1997
  
  U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002
  Leonard Bisswanger
  630 Belleview Rd, Ethel, Arkansas, 72048-9509
  Phone Number 870-282-3271
  Residence Years 1998-2002
  
  Social Security Death Index
  Leonard H Bisswanger
  Born 1 Jun 1930, Died 4 Jun 2008
  Last Residence Ethel, Arkansas, Arkansas 72048
  SSN 432-58-2469 issued Arkansas (Before 1951)
  
  The RootsWeb Obituary Index reports only the basic details, indicating that the obit was published on the 5 June 2008, one day after his death.  The burial was the next day, according to the obituary pubilshed in the Stuttgart Daily Leader.
  
  RootsWeb Obituary Index
  Leonard Bisswanger
  Obituary Date 5 Jun 2008
  Death Abt 2008 Ethel AR
  Age 78, Birth Year abt 1930
  
  --------------------------------
  Stuttgart, Ark. - Leonard Harvey Bisswanger, 78, died Wednesday, June 4.
  
  A lifelong resident of Ethel, he was born June 1, 1930 to A.L. and Harriet Criswell Bisswanger.
  
  He was a retired federal game warden. He was an avid fisherman until his health failed.
  
  He played Minor League Baseball for the Memphis Redbirds in 1948, then played one year Major League Baseball for the Boston Braves in 1949. He fought in the Korean War in 1950, cutting short his baseball career.
  
  He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Lorraine Bisswanger; two brothers, Charles and James Bisswanger.
  
  Survivors include a son, Corky Bisswanger and his wife, Renee of Ethel; two daughters, Jeanie Trussell of Michigan and Cathy Orman and her husband Mark of Ethel; four grandchildren, Corby and Candice Bisswanger, Nikki Vansickle and Taylor Orman; two great-grandchildren and two brothers, Jerry Bisswanger of Ethel and Durrell Bisswanger of DeWitt.
  
  Funeral services will be held Friday, June 6, 2008 at 10 a.m. at Bellview Baptist Church.
  
  Burial will be in Mt. Pleasant Cemetery by Essex Funeral Home.
  
  Memorials may be made to Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, 318 Bellview Road, Ethel,  72048.
  --  Stuttgart Daily Leader, original no longer online; archive available at: United States Obituary Collection,  http://www.ancestry.com/search/obit/view.aspx?db=web-obituary&kw=Bisswanger+Marilee&pid=18594905&url=http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll%3Frank%3d1%26new%3d1%26MSAV%3d0%26msT%3d1%26gss%3dangs-i%26gsfn%3dMarilee%26gsln%3dBisswanger%26msbdy%3d1929%26msbpn__ftp%3dArkansas%2b(probably%2bArkansas%2bCounty)%26msfng0%3dJoseph%2bJ%26msfns0%3dBisswanger%26msmng0%3dLois%2bV%26msmns0%3dScruggs%26uidh%3dig1%26_83004003-n_xcl%3dm%26mssng0%3dHerbert%2bH%26mssns0%3dHorton%26ftm%3d1%26db%3dweb-obituary
  --------------------------------
  
  Leonard H. Bisswanger
  Birth Jun 1, 1930
  Death Jun 4, 2008
  PFC US ARMY KOREA
  Spouse Lorraine M. Bisswanger (1929 - 2003)
  Burial Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  Created by Dale Houghton May 07, 2012
  --  Find A Grave Memorial #89743210, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=89743210

Sources

• 1. Obituary of Leonard Harvey Bisswanger, Stuttgarat (Ark) Stuttgart Daily Leader, 5 June 2008
• 2. Find a Grave Memorial Registry
  • Memorial #89743210, http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=89743210
• 3. Social Security Death Index
• 4. U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 2
• 5. 1940 Federal Census, Arkansas County, Arkansas
  • 13 April, Ethel, District 1-26, page 6B, Oak Flat School and Church Rd, Hse #101, Rents $200
• 6. U.S. Public Records Index, 1950-1993, Volume 1
  • Leonard C Bisswanger
• 7. Email Sources
• 8. U.S. Phone and Address Directories, 1993-2002
• 9. Obituary of Lorraine Murphy Bisswanger, DeWitt (Arkansas) Era-Enterprise, 19 Dec 2008
• 10. Find a Grave Memorial Registry