Joseph Giancola was one the most important figures in Rutland’s modern history, according to city leaders who remembered the local businessman this week. “Without Joe Giancola and his wife, there’s no Paramount Theatre,” said Paul Gallo, who worked with Giancola on the effort to restore the theater. “It never would have happened.”

Giancola, who died Monday, also redeveloped Howe Center, spearheaded numerous improvements at the airport and hospital, developed wide swaths of city housing, helped keep College of St. Joseph going and incubated several local businesses. A Rutland native, he was also, according to those who knew him, the archetype of the American self-made man.