When he dropped out of Elder High School 56 years ago after his father had a stroke, the 15-year-old Catanzaro went to work with his mother at the family produce business in Findlay Market.

With $13 in his pocket, he bought tomatoes and started a wholesale business, now called Frank J. Catanzaro Sons & Daughters Inc., that employs 150 workers and has 42 trucks shipping some 7,000 food items to stores within a 120-mile radius of Cincinnati.

"He was one of those guys who worked seven days a week his whole life and enjoyed what he did and helping people out," said one of his sons, Thomas Catanzaro, 43, of North Bend. "He was a giver more than a taker. He always told me, 'Don't be as good as me, be better.' He always wanted things to be better for his kids."

Catanzaro, 71, died Wednesday of an aneurysm after collapsing at his Covedale home.

Born in Price Hill in 1933, Catanzaro attended St. William Elementary in Price Hill. He was a member of St. Antoninus Church in Covedale.

While dating his future wife, Mary Ann, he would drive to a cluster of produce companies on Cincinnati's riverfront where Great American Ballpark sits today.

He pointed to one produce company in particular that had seven trucks, vowing to her that - someday - he would own a business with more, his son said.

In 1983, Catanzaro moved the family business from Findlay Market to Race Street and expanded it into a full-line food-service distributor.

By 2000, he moved it to Lockland as the business grew.

Shortly before his death, he warned his oldest son, Frank, that he had enjoyed life and didn't want his family to grieve after he was gone.

"He said, 'Son, when I die, don't worry, just say a few prayers for me and stick me in the ground,' " Thomas Catanzaro recalled. "He said, 'I lived my life by doing the best I could for your mom and you kids and I'm happy.' "

Besides his wife, Catanzaro is survived by two brothers, Charlie of Green Township and Pete of Delhi; his sister, Catherine Wernicke of Monfort Heights; seven sons, Frank, Bob, Mark, Joe and David, all of Green Township and Thomas of North Bend and Michael of Finneytown; two daughters, Barb Harrigan of White Oak and Sharon Ledonne of Green Township and 28 grandchildren.

Mass of Christian Burial is 10:30 a.m. today at St. Antoninus Church, 1500 Linneman Road.

Memorials: St. Antoninus Church or St. William Church, 4108 W. Eighth St., Cincinnati.

E-mail jedwards@enquirer.com