The Alternative Press

 PATERSON, NJ – Ralph Golzio was born in Paterson four years before the Silk Strike of 1913, an event he has said he witnessed as a young boy accompanying his mother, one of the mill workers. He later attended grammar school with Lou Costello before the portly Patersonian became a world famous comedian.

A graduate of Eastside High School, Golzio went on to earn an engineering degree of Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken in 1932. He eventually founded his own engineering company and unlike others who left Paterson after becoming successful, Golzio remained a resident of the city’s Totowa neighborhood on the Northside, where he lived in the same house on Salem Road for more than 70 years.

Golzio died over the weekend at the age of 103.

“Ralph has always maintained a sunny outlook and an active lifestyle, truly living up to his motto of ‘play as hard as you work to achieve balance of mind and spirit’” said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. in a 2010 tribute to Golzio to the United States House of Representatives.

“Ralph's intellectual curiosity persists to this day, as he continues to study nuclear physics, quantum physics, and astronomy in his spare time,’’ added Pascrell.

In 2011, Golzio was honored as Stevens’ Tech oldest living graduate.

“At 102-years-old, Golzio has lived through an era of unprecedented technological progress,’’ reads the tribute on the Stevens’ website. “When he was a boy, automobiles were a rare sight and talking motion pictures had just been invented. The 20th and 21st Centuries – and Golzio, too – have seen the invention of traffic signals, self-winding watches, jet engines, photocopiers, hand-held calculators, bar code scanners, artificial hearts, cell phones, contact lenses, H-D television, the Internet and hybrid cars.”
“Golzio’s kept up with all the change,” continued the tribute. “Even without the computer, he’s accomplished some amazing things due to his lifelong passion for science, innovation and entrepreneurship.” 

Golzio’s wake will be Tuesday from 2-4 and 7-9 pm at Festa Funeral Home on Union Boulevard in Totowa.