By Dan Horn
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Joe Rozzi, who died Friday at age 82. Enquirer file

Life couldn't have worked out much better for Joe Rozzi.

As the patriarch of Cincinnati's famous fireworks family, he managed to build his life around his three great loves: his family, hard work and the finest pyrotechnic shows this town has ever seen.

Rozzi, 82, died Friday morning.

For his family and most Cincinnatians, his legacy will be on display as long as people gather for Riverfest, Fourth of July celebrations or the dozens of other fireworks shows put on each year by Rozzi's Famous Fireworks.

"It's the only thing he knew," said Arthur Rozzi, the oldest of Rozzi's seven children. "He learned it from his father, and his father learned it from his father. I guess you work at it so long, it becomes a part of you."

Rozzi's was always a family business and Joe Rozzi made sure it stayed that way when he took over in the 1960s.

He instilled a strong work ethic and a love of fireworks in his children, all of whom have worked in some capacity at the Rozzi fireworks factory in Symmes Township. Ten family members still work there today, and his sons now run the business.

Arthur Rozzi gained an appreciation for his father's dedication to his craft - some have called it an obsession - when he started working with his dad as a boy, rolling and wrapping the paper tubes that would become shells.

"He enjoyed working," he said. "He kind of instilled that in everybody: If you were busy and you were working, you weren't going to get into trouble."

Joe Rozzi's hard work earned him the reputation of a master craftsman, a rarity in an industry increasingly dominated by foreign competition and mass production.

"There's a handful of true manufacturing artists in this country, and Joe Rozzi was certainly in that league," said Julie Heckman, executive director of the American Pyrotechnics Association. "He definitely is a legendary figure in this industry."

The association awarded Mr. Rozzi its lifetime achievement award in 1999.

Given Mr. Rozzi's family history, he seemed destined to succeed in the fireworks business.

His grandfather, Paul Rozzi, learned the craft before coming to America in 1895 from the small town of Pietramelara, in a southern region of Italy known for producing fancy fireworks.

He settled in Pennsylvania, but the family business moved to Cincinnati in 1930 when Joe Rozzi's father, Arthur Rozzi, landed the fireworks job at Coney Island.

Fireworks shows in Cincinnati haven't been the same since. Due in large part to Joe Rozzi's craftsmanship, the company quickly gained a reputation for one-of-a-kind shows that featured glittering displays of colors and shapes.

The company's fireworks now are staples at Reds games and Kings Island, dozens of Fourth of July shows and their best-known production of all: the annual Riverfest display, which began in 1977.

Mr. Rozzi never really retired from the business he loved. He continued to work until February, when age and illness made it impossible for him to continue.

Arthur Rozzi said the work wasn't the only thing that kept his father coming back to the factory for so long. After all, he said, the whole family was there.

"Having his kids around him was nice," Arthur Rozzi said. "He enjoyed that, and we enjoyed being with him, too."

Joe Rozzi is survived by his wife, Jeanette, and six other children: Nancy and Paula Rozzi, Louise Erdeljohn, Angela Burns and John and Joseph Rozzi. Other survivors include 18 grandchildren and one great-grandson.

Visitation, which is open to the public, is 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday at Tufts Schildmeyer Family Funeral Home, 129 N. Riverside Drive in Loveland.

Burial Mass is 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, 7754 Montgomery Road in Cincinnati.

E-mail dhorn@enquirer.com