The Second Generation Steps Up: Joseph O. Basile’s Story

In 2025, Catania Oils is celebrating 125 years of family, resilience, and remarkable growth. To honor this legacy, we’re launching a blog series that explores the lives and leadership of the people who shaped our company from 1900 to today. Each post will spotlight a different chapter in our story and feature our 125th anniversary video: a short documentary blending interviews with the Basile family, footage from our current plant, and over a century of family and company photos brought to life with AI animation. It’s a celebration of where we’ve been, and where we’re headed.

Joseph O. Basile was born May 17, 1917, the fourth of seven children of Guiseppe and Anna Basile. Joseph, who went by Joe, began working for his father at Basile Packing as a youth, selling oil door-to-door on his way to and from school. Ultimately, he left high school at 16 to work for the family business full-time.

At age 24, he took charge of Basile Packing with his brothers after the unexpected death of their father. One of Joe’s key innovations was selling oil on credit, when many of their competitors required up-front payment. Although selling on credit took on a level of risk, it paid dividends in customer loyalty.

World War II interrupted Joe’s business progress. In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he served under General Patton in Tunisia, Morocco, Sicily, and Italy. He returned home in 1945 with permanent hearing damage and a renewed commitment to the family business.

Shortly following his return, he purchased the rights to the La Spagnola brand from Boston Macaroni Company, and he also entered a strategic merger with three other partners to form Catania-Spagna Corporation, giving the business the name it is known by today. La Spagnola remains a mainstay in the Catania family of brands.

In 1949, Joe married his wife, Ann. They went on to have five children, who Joe cherished deeply. During the postwar period, Joe led the company through significant growth, not just in terms of brand expansion, but also in business capacity. In the late 50s, he moved the business to Somerville, and by 1960, Catania employed over 20 people and operated a fleet of vehicles throughout New England.

Joe insisted that his children get a solid education, but he allowed them to help with the business on summer break. They worked their way up from sweeping floors in the plant, learning every part of the business. “Someday,” Joe told his sons, “You are going to be running this business, and what you are doing now, you are going to pay other people to do. And when that happens, you will respect those people for the job they do, because you will understand how hard it is.”

In the 70s, his children – by then, young adults – convinced him to dress the part of president of a thriving business. At their insistence, he traded the blue factory flannels he’d worn for decades for a suit, tie, and fedora, although he never fully quit the flannel life. Even after Joe officially retired, leaving the business to his children in the early 80s, he continued to commute almost daily to check in. Each day he was in the office, he would hang his signature fedora on the wall in the tank farm. Today, his fedora is still displayed in the tank farm as a tribute to him.

In 2003, Catania opened a massive expansion and modernization of the Ayer facility. Looking at the new plant, Joe told his son Tony, “Not in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would live long enough to see something like this.” Two months later, he passed away at the age of 86, having seen the business that had once been his father’s dream grow beyond his greatest ambitions. His lessons and values continue to shape how we do business today.