Caputo, Joseph

Description

Joseph Patrick Caputo was born on March 17, 1897, in Rye, New York, the son of Bonaventure (Ventura) Caputo and Emilia Muzzuca Caputo. He was raised in Rye and educated in the local school system, growing up in a large Italian-American family during a period of rapid change in the community.

At the turn of the twentieth century, Rye was evolving from a rural town into a suburban community influenced by nearby New York City. Families like the Caputos were part of a growing immigrant population that contributed to the town’s economic and cultural development. He resided at 9 New Street, placing him within one of Rye’s established working-class neighborhoods.

World War I Service

Caputo entered military service on September 18, 1918, when he was inducted through Local Board No. 6 in Westchester County, New York. He was initially assigned to the 156th Depot Brigade, where he underwent basic training as part of the Army’s mobilization system.

He was subsequently transferred to Battery E, 13th Field Artillery Regiment, stationed at Camp Jackson, South Carolina, and later reassigned to Battery C of the same regiment.

The 13th Field Artillery Regiment was part of the 4th Division, which saw significant combat service during World War I, including participation in the Aisne-Marne Offensive, the St. Mihiel Offensive, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, where American forces played a decisive role in breaking German defensive lines.

Caputo’s service occurred during the final months of World War I, and his duties remained stateside within the Field Artillery replacement and training system. In this role, he contributed to the preparation and organization of artillery personnel and equipment destined for front-line units overseas.

He held the rank of Private and sustained no wounds in action. He was honorably discharged on December 3, 1918, following the Armistice and rapid demobilization of forces.

Life After Service

Following the war, Caputo returned to Rye, where he established a long career as a carpenter, contributing to the construction and maintenance of homes and buildings in the growing Westchester region.

He married Mary Alice Brennan on June 27, 1926, at the Church of the Resurrection in Rye, and together they had one daughter, Jane Marie Caputo, born in 1929.

Caputo remained deeply active in religious, labor, and veterans’ organizations. He was a member of American Legion Post 128 in Rye, Carpenter’s Local 77 in Port Chester, and the Knights of Columbus, where he was a Fourth Degree member and one of the organizers of Resurrection Council in 1922. He was also active in several parishes, including the Church of the Resurrection in Rye, Corpus Christi Church in Port Chester, and St. Gregory the Great Church in Harrison.

In later years, he relocated to Harrison, New York, where he lived for approximately ten years prior to his death.

Joseph Patrick Caputo died on March 6, 1973, at United Hospital in Harrison, New York, at the age of seventy-five.

At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife, Mary Alice Caputo; his daughter, Mrs. Carmen (Jane) Recce of Harrison; his grandchildren, Mimi, Christina, and Rosemarie Recce; his sisters, Sister Marie Bonaventure, Mrs. Jeanette Agostino, Miss Mary Marrello, and Miss Ellen Marrello; and his brothers, Victor, Florenzo, and Frank Marrello.

He was buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Rye, returning in death to the community in which he had been born and raised.