Prosperina “Rina” Rose DeLisa Caprioni, 93, of Matawan, passed peacefully from this life at home June 22, 2023, of natural causes, surrounded by her loving family.
Rina was born in White Plains, New York, to Patsy DeLisa and Mary Lombardi DeLisa who settled in Fair Haven in the 1930s. Patsy was a barber whose shop was at 1 East Front St. Mary made and altered dresses for private clients from her home and later worked at a coat factory located on Bridge Avenue.
Surviving the Great Depression, Rina married a handsome Marine, Tony Caprioni, upon graduating Rumson-Fair Haven High School Class of 1948. For $9,000 the families helped them buy a home in Leonardo, a yellow brick bungalow across from Beacon Hill Country Club, where they would raise four children together and reside for 50 years.
They were both self-employed: Rina took up her mother’s clientele as a seamstress and dressmaker, and Tony was a carpenter and cabinet maker and later, with the help of a friend, joined the mason’s union to better support the family. He worked on such projects as the Garden State Arts Center, the expansion at Bell Labs, Holmdel, the Forked River Nuclear Power Plant, and countless roofing jobs with his brother-in-law Pat DeLisa of Fair Haven.
In the early 1980s, Rina purchased a friend’s dress shop in Campbell’s Junction – The Village Shop – where she was proprietor for five years. She sold the business and took a job as a secretary for the Army at Fort Monmouth and retired after 10 years.
Through the years she sewed projects for friends, family, church, children and charity, taught adults how to read through county programs, skied with friends, bowled in leagues, golfed, and made her own greeting cards and quilts for the family. She loved gardening, traveling, reading and watching Turner Classic Movies. In her 80s she survived non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and served on the St. Agnes RCC Seniors Club and Knitting Circle in Atlantic Highlands (“the Knit Wits”). She didn’t surrender her driver’s license until she was in her 93rd year and had a perfect driving record.
Surrendered to the recliner, she was a vocal and avid fan of the Boston Red Sox (blame Ted Williams) and also the New York Mets, tracking scores, and friends and family commentary through her iPhone.
She was a woman who made and found joy wherever she went, touching countless lives with her simple works of charity, generosity and candor. Her legacy resides in those who were lucky enough to know and love her.
Rina was predeceased by her beloved husband Tony (2013), brother John DeLisa (2002), and most recently son Michael Anthony Caprioni (2022).
She is survived by her beloved brother and sister-in-law, Pat and Sue DeLisa of Fair Haven; her sister-in-law Mary DeLisa of Long Branch; loving children Mark Caprioni and daughter-in-law Victoria of St. Paul, Minnesota, Anthony Caprioni of Matawan, and Renee Moreau and son-in-law Kenneth of Matawan; and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren, cousins, nieces and nephews.
At her request, Rina was privately cremated. A joint celebration of life with Christian funeral rites for both Rina and her son Michael Anthony Caprioni will be held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, July 16 at the Moreau residence in Matawan. The house will be open for visitation at 11 a.m. with repast following the service.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Rina’s honor to the Keyport Ministerium Food Pantry at keyportfoodpantry.org.
To offer condolences to the family, visit dayfuneralhome.com.
The article originally appeared in the June 29 – July 5, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
