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Carl M. Cappa, 78, Dies

“He was still the same gentleman who was born on Franklin Street.”
Sunday Post Journal
MAY 13, 2002

By Kyle Kubera

Carl M. Cappa lived his life with four pillars – religion, family, business and charity.
On Saturday, Cappa, the owner of Crawford Furniture Manufacturing Corp., and a benefactor too many area organizations, died in his Jamestown home. He was 78.
According to Michael Cappa, his father's year-long battle with liver cancer didn't stop him from maintaining his faith in God, the love for his family, his need to be around the furniture business and his support for many people and organizations in the Jamestown area.
“Religion, family, business and charity, that's his whole life and he did all four all the time,” Michael Cappa said Saturday evening. “Even at home, and when he was so ill, he was still trying to get money for charitable organizations.”
“People like my father come along very seldom.”
In the last month of his life, Cappa kept his finger on the pulse of the business he began working for in 1945 and purchased in 1983. In April, he went to a major furniture show in High Point, N.C. He spent a day-and-a-half at the show.
“I could not believe how strong he was,” the son said of this father. “I don't know how he did it, but he did it.”
Most recently, Mike Cappa said his father was in the hospital and woke up at 4:30 a.m. Of all the things that could have been on his mind, Cappa wanted to talk about a line of beds the company makes.
“It was just me and him talking about beds,” Mike Cappa said. “We pretty much knew he was dying. He knew it and he just fought it right to the end.”
Greg Bender, who is chairman of The Carl Cappa Golf Classic that has raised more than $300,000 for the TRC Foundation, said he talked with Cappa less than a month ago about why the business was successful.
“He told me, 'I think about it (the business) all the time. I get up in the morning and that's what I am thinking about. I live and breathe it and that's why it's a success,” Bender said Cappa told him during their conversation. “He was tough. I'm not sure I would want to be against him in a negotiation.”
Mike Cappa said his father died peacefully in his home after being released from the hospital recently. He was in the care of Hospice officials and his family.
“Nobody would have fought as hard as he did,” Cappa's son said. “He put up a courageous fight. It was a continual up and down cycle.”
At the age of 61, Cappa purchased Crawford Furniture in 1983 from Winnifred Dibert, the widow of the company's founder, Clyne Crawford. He began working for the company in 1945 after he returned from World War II. His first job was as part of a company training program, working in and learning operations in all departments.
He was named plant manager in 1960 and was made president and chief executive officer in 1978.
Up until a few weeks ago, he would be in his office every day for a few hours to oversee the operation, which has more than 500 employees at facilities in Jamestown and New Bethlehem, PA.
“I give them all I can,” Cappa said of his employees for a Post-Journal story in 1994. “It's still a people business, but you have to give good value.”
Cappa's family said they wanted their husband, father and grandfather to be remembered as an industrialist, who worked for more than 56 years in Jamestown.
He was born in Jamestown and grew up on Franklin Street. Cappa described himself as being “born on the wrong side of the tracks.”
“He never changed,” Mike Cappa said. “Success never changed my dad. He was personable, straight-forward and honest. He was still the same gentleman who was born on Franklin Street.”
Cappa's son said his father learned all of the aspects of the business and that he is trying to do the same. Mike Cappa said one of the turning points in the company's history was in 1991 when his father offered an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The program gave the employees a stake in the company.
“He wanted the employees to own part of the company,” Mike Cappa said.
As successful as he was in business, Cappa was driven to give back to the community. One of the most notable charitable organizations he belonged to is the TRC Foundation, which benefits The Resource Center programs.
Cappa was president of TRC Foundation at the time of his death and the one-day golf tournament, which is named in his honor, raised more than $100,000 in 2000 for TRC programs.
“Carl loved this tournament,” Bender said. “It's his baby. He was driven to make it a success. He knew the importance of the mission of the Foundation and the importance of raising the money.”
Bender said the success of the golf tournament mirrored Cappa's success in business.
“If Carl wanted something to be a success, it was,” said Bender, who is The Resource Center's business operations director. “There was no negotiation.”
The golf tournament is held every August at Moonbrook Country Club.
According to Bender, Cappa’s philanthropy did not end with the golf tournament. He said the businessman generously contributed to St. James Church in Jamestown and Sacred Heart Church in Lakewood. Cappa also was known to help out at Holy Family Catholic Church.
“He did a lot of things for people that nobody knew about,” Bender said. “He helped a lot of people on the Q.T. There’s a lot of people who have done a lot of things, but Carl’s pretty much touched them all.”
Mike Cappa talked about how his father had a soft spot for Boots Young, a Jamestown resident who spent time in prison. He said his father helped him out on a number of occasions, either financially or in some other way.
“My dad was a giving man,” he said. “He didn’t always want the publicity, so he would give anonymously.”
Cappa’s funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday in St. James Church. He is survived by his wife, Catherine, with whom he would have celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary in July; his son; four grandchildren; two sisters; and four brothers.