J. Gazza, a founder of the Huntington Utilities Corp.

Joseph A. Gazza, one of the founders of the Huntington Utilities Fuel Corp., died on Monday from a heart attack. He was 95.

Gazza, a lifelong resident of Huntington, was known for his optimistic outlook on life and his generosity to the community in donating to various charities on Long Island. "He didn't have an enemy in the world," said brother Louis Gazza, 88, of Morehead City, N.C.

Born May 30, 1915, Gazza was raised by parents who immigrated to Long Island from Italy at the turn of the century. Gazza was born in the Round Swamp Road area in Melville on a farm that was commonly known as the "Jackson Pony Farm," which bred and supplied horses to the military before and after World War I. The Walt Whitman Mall is now built on the property.

Gazza spent most of his youth working on farms that his parents owned. After a short time living in Rockaway Beach, Gazza and his parents moved to Huntington to work on a farm on New York Avenue. They first leased the farm, which was known as the Valentine Farm, and later bought the homestead in 1919.

Gazza, in an obituary he wrote about himself, described living on a farm during his youth. "Growing up on a farm during the Great Depression was hard work, long hours and not too profitable," he wrote.

"Every three or four years a drought would occur and an occasional farmer would abandon the farm." and Louis Gazza, and another brother, Eugene Gazza, all of Huntington. His wife, Margaret, died in 1988.

Visitation will be at M.A Connell Funeral Home on 934 New York Ave. in Huntington Station Friday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. A funeral Mass will be said at St Patrick's church in Huntington Friday at 9:45 a.m., with interment at St. Patrick's Cemetery in Huntington. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to American Legion Post #360, Huntington, N.Y. 11743.