Rose Pizzo

Pizzo's first job out of high school was as a sewing machine operator where she worked for two years although she hated the job. She then worked as a data entry operator for many years. In 1978 she was one of the first students to attend the Adult Basic Education Program for the Deaf in Fair Lawn and received her high school equivalency diploma. After she graduated, she became a teacher's aide at the same school and held the position for over twenty years. She has also taught American Sign Language to hearing adults at the Fair Lawn Community School since the mid-1980s. Pizzo has been an active member of the North Jersey Community Center for the Deaf (NJCCD) and served on their Women's Auxiliary Group. She was appointed by the Governor to serve on the NJ Division of the Deaf Advisory Council. Pizzo also became very involved with the Union County College interpreting program and helped many students improve their interpreting skills. As a result, she was present with the Claudia Parson's Award by UCC for involvement in the Deaf community. She is also the recipient of the Fred Schreiber Golden Hands award.

Rose Pizzo first met her husband Vincent Pizzo when she was 7 years old on the bus going to their school for the Deaf P.S. 47. Their first date was not until 1950 when she was 18 and he was 24 and they were married on June 8, 1952. Vincent also was raised by hearing parents but unlike Rose, many of his siblings are also Deaf. They raised 3 children in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Their oldest child Nancy was born in Barnet Hospital in 1956. Their daughter Karen was born in 1958 and their son Paul was born in 1962. They also have three grandchildren named Michelle, Vinnie, and Dominic.

Rose Pizzo (born Easter 1932) is an Italian American author. She wrote the autobiography Growing Up Deaf with the help of her friend Judy Jonas, which tells the story of her life as a Deaf woman. This book was self-published through Xlibris. She is a prominent member of the Deaf Community and has won many awards for her efforts including the Fred Schreiber Golden Hands award.

Rose Pizzo was born in Queens, New York, in 1932 during the Great Depression. She has an older sister by 13 months named Frances and a younger brother named Vincent. After her birth, her family moved from Queens to New Dorp, Staten Island because her parents could no longer afford to live in the city. However, her father had a shoemaking business in Queens and because the commute became too difficult, the family moved back to Queens for a short time. They moved to Corona and eventually settled in East Elmhurst.