Rosenella Winifred Cruciani "Rose" Totino (January 16, 1915 – June 21, 1994) was an American entrepreneur and

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta. Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then t ...

owner whose frozen pizza business co-founded with her husband became the foundation for the

Totino's Totino's and Jeno's are brands of frozen pizza products owned by General Mills. History Rose Totino and her husband, Jim, founded a take-out pizzeria in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1951. They later expanded it to a full-service restaurant, wh ...

brand. After selling the company to Pillsbury, Totino became their first female corporate vice president.

Biography

Rose dropped out of school at age 16 to support her family by cleaning houses. In 1934 she married James R. Totino (1911 – 1981) and remained married until his death of

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

while vacationing in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

(December 16, 1981). James Totino. They opened their own pizzeria in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

in 1951 and later expanded from take-out only to Totino's Kitchen with

table service The foodservice (US English) or catering (British English) industry includes the businesses, institutions, and companies which prepare meals outside the home. It includes restaurants, school and hospital cafeterias, catering operations, and many ...

. In 1962, they started Totino's Finer Foods in St. Louis Park, Minnesota and began mass production of frozen pizzas. They built a new plant in

Fridley, Minnesota Fridley is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was 29,590 at the 2020 census. Fridley was incorporated in 1949 as a village, and became a city in 1957. It is part of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area as ...

in 1971. Demand continued to grow, and they sold their company to Pillsbury in 1975 for about $22 million in Pillsbury stock.

(September 13, 1976)
Pizza magnate was poor.
/ref>Staff report (October 15, 1975)

''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' Totino's grandson Steve Elwell bought the restaurant in 1987 and moved Totino's Kitchen from its original location in August 2007 to a new location in

Mounds View, Minnesota Mounds View is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 12,155 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. U.S. Highway 10, County Road 10, and Interstate Highway 35W are three of the mai ...

. The new location closed in 2011, ending a 60-year run.Horner, Sarah (June 8, 2011)
Totino's Italian Kitchen in Mounds View to close after 60 years.
'' St. Paul Pioneer Press'' The Totinos were involved in Minnesota charities.

Totino-Grace High School Totino-Grace High School is a private Catholic high school in Fridley, Minnesota. It is an archdiocesan co-educational Catholic high school in the Lasallian tradition. History Founding In the late 1950s, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and ...

in Fridley was renamed in their honor in 1980. They helped finance the Totino Fine Arts Center at

University of Northwestern - St. Paul A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Roseville, Minnesota Roseville is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, United States. It is one of two Twin Cities suburbs that are adjacent to both Saint Paul and Minneapolis (the other is Lauderdale). The land comprising Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, and southern R ...

and the NET Ministries headquarters in St. Paul, Minnesota.Our Mission (n.d.

'' NET Ministries'' Totino died of cancer at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.Staff report (June 23, 1994)
Rose Totino, 79, Frozen-Pizza Maker.
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' She was inducted into the Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame in 2008.

References

External links

* via Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame
Bonnie Totino Brenny: My Mother's Legacy
via Minnesota Historical Society
Totino's Italian Kitchen history
1915 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American food company founders {{US-business-bio-1910s-stub