In loving memory of Ronald Caputi - Obituary Baldwin Brothers

Obituary

Ron Caputi passed away on, as he would say in his Massachusetts accent Sad-dey (Saturday), February 26, 2022. Even though he had been ill for almost 2 years, he took it all in stride and fought hard until the very end, hoping to live one more day but happy with the more than 6 decades here on Earth that he got to have fun.

Ron was born on March 1, 1960 in Lowell, Massachusetts, a smart, sensitive, sarcastic, and hilarious man. He was an only child and because of this throughout his life, his friends became his family. According to close friends, he was “one of a kind, a tough son of a bitch, a fun dude and a true friend that would protect his friends at all costs. He was the guy with all the ideas that would get all us teenage guys into good trouble. He was a loyal, great friend.” Ron has stories from growing up that aren’t fit for print but if you would sit down with him for a few minutes, he would love to tell you those stories, at length and in detail to anyone who would listen. Ron enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and was honorably discharged. He had a deep love for our country, the military and would watch any war documentary out on the history channel and provide detailed commentary about it.

Ron moved to Daytona Beach in 1979, loved the sunshine, beach and riding his motorcycle. He met Mona, married and had 2 daughters, Nicole and Melissa. He adored his girls and weekends were spent traveling the state, camping, taking pictures, recording family videos and having adventures. As Ron said, he did not live to work but worked to live and had many jobs throughout his life, including chef, printing press associate, car manufacturer, but his favorite was building boats for Boston Whaler and Edgewater Boats. He took so much pride in being a boat builder and that what he was creating would help families make many unforgettable memories in.

Ron loved music, especially Queen, Genesis, Cat Stevens, Tom Petty, Sublime and Lynyrd Skynyrd. He loved teaching his daughters about good music and having deep discussions about life. He loved peanut butter and fluffer nutter sandwiches, Breyer’s coffee ice cream, Italian ice, mallow cups, cream soda, pork chops with applesauce and Nicki’s meatballs, not in that order. The man loved to eat and had a lot of opinions about food for someone who barely cooked and had 2 plates in his house. He loved a good debate, poking the bear and despised hypocrites. “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”, he would say. Ron was brutally honest and if you ever needed advice about something tough, he was a good person to talk to. He was admittedly bad with money. Any time he ever did have money, he spent it on things he didn’t need, like martial arts coins (he loved Bruce Lee movies), or on spoiling his grandkids, who he loved so dearly. Or on having 10 bags of groceries delivered to his hospital room because he didn’t like the food (that got him in trouble and got us a good laugh).

Ron loved helping others and instilled that love in his children. He volunteered for the Salvation Army, Special Olympics and many other causes. It is no surprise that he also signed up to be a tissue donor to help burn victims and those with cleft palates following his death. His loving spirit will live on in others.

Life will be much less bright and more boring without Ron in it. Greg and Mona will miss Sunday dinners with him. His daughters wish he would send one more daily text signed with his signature AMLD (All My Love, Dad) and look forward to seeing him again and him greeting them with a “Not for nothing, but I could have wrote a better obituary than that” and laugh endlessly.

Ron is survived by his daughter Nicole and her husband Tom Day, daughter Melissa Caputi, grandchildren Alina Day and Beckham Day, and his best friends Mona and Greg Coleman.

A celebration of his life is being planned at a later date by his family.