History
Joe J. Rossi & Company, Inc.
Joseph J. Rossi arrived in the United States from northern Italy in 1926 at the age of 17, joining his father who had started working on a dairy ranch in Santa Maria, California. In Regoledo de Cosio, Province of Sondrio, Italy, he left behind his mother and five younger brothers and sisters. Joe soon learned the difficult life of dairy ranching, arising at 3:30 AM to round up the cows and milk them by hand. The herd was milked twice a day, with the tasks of cleaning, washing and feeding filling all available hours. Soon after Joe started working at the ranch, his father decided to return to be with his family in Italy. After working two years in Santa Maria, Joe took a job on another dairy ranch in Yerington, Nevada, where he worked for five years.