OBITUARY

Jo Anne Capobianco

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Jo Anne Capobianco, 74, died July 6, 2021. Jo Anne was born October 10, 1946, to Joseph M. A. and Alice Mae (Taylor) Grenier.

A native Rhode Islander, Jo Anne grew up in Warwick with her sister, Lynne. She was a member of Spring Green Memorial Church. She attended their Baptist Youth Organization and was part of the Youth Choir. She graduated from Pilgrim High School in 1964. Jo Anne attended Rhode Island Hospital School of Nursing in 1965 and graduated as a Registered Nurse in 1968.

Upon completing nursing school, Jo Anne ultimately settled down in Sterling, CT after marrying Thomas Anthony Capobianco, Jr. on May 18, 1968. They had two children, Thomas and Tara. Jo Anne and Tom dedicated their lives to their family. Providing an education for their two children was a primary goal in their lives, which paved the way for their two children to attend college and become engineers.

Jo Anne was extremely intelligent, hard-working, and was the ultimate caregiver. Jo Anne was an excellent nurse, employed for over 40 years, most of which was at Rhode Island Hospital in Providence, RI. She worked in the ER and OR, but enjoyed her time most in the CCU, and later the cardiac stepdown unit, on the night shift. In addition to her full-time professional career, she was also a dedicated wife and mother, making homecooked meals from scratch every day, and she somehow found time to knit and sew, and even make Halloween costumes for her children. She was the ultimate supermom. She also gave to many charities, and personally helped several friends when they were in need. Unfortunately, many herniated discs in her back and neck forced Jo Anne to leave nursing and retire early. But this early retirement allowed her to spend winters in Texas with her grandson, Jack.

In fact, Jo Anne was so thrilled about the arrival of her grandson in 2010 that she and Tom bought a second house in Austin, Texas, just four houses down from Tara and Ron. She would spend the wintertime in Austin, where Jack would visit Jo Anne daily. Jack eventually called her “Gamgamps” when he was a toddler, and this name stuck. Three years later when Tara, Ron, and Jack moved to Corpus Christi, Texas, instead of living in two separate houses, they had a house that could accommodate Gamgamps and Grandpa, too. Jo Anne really enjoyed wintering in Texas and spending summers in CT on the farm, and they also loved making the 2,000+ mile trek back and forth each time by car.

Jo Anne worked extremely hard in her life, but she knew how to have fun, too. Jo Anne really enjoyed music. She saw Barry Manilow a couple of times at the Providence Civic Center with her family and enjoyed watching the Boston Pop’s Fourth of July Spectacular on TV. She enjoyed many hobbies, including cooking and trying new recipes. Decades before the existence of Food Network, she subscribed to Bon Appetit magazine and prepared pasta primavera, chocolate mousse pie, and other gut busting delicacies for dinner and family gatherings. She loved to entertain and hosted innumerous pool parties and family picnics. She also enjoyed many crafting activities, including sewing clothes and dolls, card making, scrapbooking, beading, knitting, and embroidering, which included her magnum opus: Uncle Eddie's Indian Head embroidered shirt. Jo Anne was much more creative than she ever gave herself credit. Jo Anne was also a big movie buff and enjoyed everything from Gone with the Wind to Mad Max Fury Road. Raising the kids included many Friday night movies, and Jo Anne had a good sense for picking great movies to see with the family, including Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Jo Anne and Tom even attended a South by Southwest Film Festival with Tara and Ron in Austin, Texas.

Jo Anne is survived by her son Thomas and daughter-in-law Diane, of Warwick, RI, as well as her daughter Tara, son-in-law Ron, and her grandson, Jack, of Pomfret, CT, and her sister and brother-in-law, Lynne and Fred Johnson of Carolina, Rhode Island, and their two sons Greg and Kris.

Relatives and friends are invited to a funeral service Saturday, July 17, 2021 at 11 a.m. in the Thomas & Walter Quinn Funeral Home, 2435 Warwick Avenue, Warwick. Visiting hours on Friday, July 16, 2021 from 4-7 p.m. in the Thomas & Walter Quinn Funeral Home. Full obituary and condolences, visit theQuinnFuneralHome.com.