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Rozsa’s life one to be celebrated

Some people truly are best defined by the word “good,” and they have longevity of job, marriage and family and friendships to back up that word.

Gabe Rozsa was such a man. Universally hailed as a quiet and gentle gentleman, he was the county’s top go-to farming guy for years, having spent decades answering questions about agriculture and gardening and leading programs through USDA office and the county soil and water office.

He was the quietly spoken radio voice of “Farmer Brown” on the former WSTV-AM , a fixture on the airwaves for many years.

He was married to his wife, Irene, for 65 years.

He was ever cheerful, always positive, and those are the kinds of superlatives one might fudge to leave room for an exception, but it’s hard to find anyone who can say they ever saw Mr. Rozsa with a frown or a negative opinion.

He stayed involved with 4-H for years after his retirement, serving as a judge for events and touching more generations with his personality.

Professionally, he worked through an era that saw contour strip farming developed, and he led good conservation practices. He had such an impact on the Jefferson County Fair, undergoing its annual run at Friendship Park this week, that the fair board named a pavilion after him, a fitting tribute to a man who touched Jefferson County’s rural life for so many years.

It is sure that his loss, at the age of 91, will be felt this week at the fairgrounds.

We hope that his life is celebrated, remembered with kind and gentle and wise words and a smile, for that is how Mr. Rosza approached his life, and everyone who ever encountered him.

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