During the 1960s and 1970s, the name Fazio’s was synonymous with grocery shopping in Northeast Ohio. The opening of a new store in Northeast Ohio was greeted with newspaper articles extolling the European flavors in Fazio’s bakery departments, gourmet specialties from around the world and large produce department. At the height of his grocery store empire in 1969, John Fazio’s chain encompassed 202 stores in Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and California.

“If you grew up in Cleveland, you definitely knew the name Fazio,” said daughter Janice Fazio, 63, of Moreland Hills. John Fazio died Friday, March 8, in Dallas, where he lived with his second wife, Terry Fazio, 71. He was 99. John Fazio was a big man with a personality to match. He didn’t drink or smoke, but he loved spaghetti and meatballs, tennis and golf. He used to skip school to take tap dancing lessons, and he was as good as a professional bowler.