ELIZABETH CAPONE

RIFTON- Elizabeth Capone left this earth on Jan. 16, 2021 to sing with the angels and join her beloved husband and her heavenly family. Liz was born in New York City on March 29, 1927. She was 93 years young at the time of her death. Liz was one of twelve children born to the late Pasquale Giambrone and Josephine (DiStefano) Giambrone. She grew up on Monroe Street in New York’s Little Italy during the Great Depression. On Valentine’s Day, when she was nineteen, she met the love of her life, Gasper Capone, in a family friend’s bowling alley. They married later that year. They lived in Brooklyn early in their marriage and later moved to New Paltz, New York, where they raised their family. They retired in Rifton, New York. She was predeceased by Gasper, who passed away in 2004. She leaves on this earth her children, Beatrice (William) Havranek, Josephine (Capone) Smith and Lorraine (James) Packer along with Ronald (Carla) Tortorella, the nephew of her sister, Yolanda, who she and Gasper helped raise. She is also survived by her grandchildren: Joseph (Kelli) Havranek, William (Carrie) Havranek, Daryl Ann Smith, Kyle (Alex) Wood, and Ivy Wood, along with four great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. She also leaves behind a close friend, Joannie Wood. Liz loved to sing and she had a pure silvery voice that was sometimes compared to that of Peggy Lee. When she was a young girl, her older sister, Yolanda, unbeknownst to their parents, took her to a radio talent audition for the Major Bowes Amateur Hour. Although, she was chosen to perform live on radio, it did not happen as it was something that was not permissible in her strict Italian family. Years later, when her daughters formed an all-female rock and roll band, the Queens, she would record and perform with them live and on stage. She was known then for her rendition of “Summer-time”, which she sang at the Rosendale Street Festival in 1980. Within her loving circle, are the other members of the Queens, Debbie Dewyea, Susan (Casey) Sahler, and Evelyn Schneider. She was also a skilled tailor, seamstress and gifted clothing designer. She designed and made outts and costumes for her daughters’ band as well as skating outts for grand-daughter, Daryl Ann, a champion roller-skater. She was an avid bowler in her younger days; and she enjoyed boating and water-skiing at the family camp in the Adirondacks. She loved to play cards; and she spent many hours with her grand-children playing Scrabble and Rummy. She and Gasper were renowned locally and in Cape Canaveral, Florida, their winter home, for their dancing, especially their fast moving steps doing the “Lindy”. Special thanks to all the staff at Golden Hill Rehabilitation and Nursing Center who gave exceptional care and compassion to Liz, especially her social worker, Helen Benson. Due to the Corona Virus (COVID 19), the funeral mass at St. Peter’s Church in Rosendale will be private. Interment will be in St. Charles Cemetery in Gardiner. George J. Moylan Funeral Home, Inc., Rosendsale, is assisting the family with arrangements. In keeping with Liz’s wishes, memorial donations may be made in her memory to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tenn., 38105. To leave a personal condolence please visit www.GJMoylanFuneralHome.com