Grace Evelyn Cappelletti

Grace Evelyn Cappelletti, of Barrington and formerly of Saugatuck, Michigan, passed away peacefully at her home on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 at the age of 78. She was born March 5, 1939 in Chicago to the late Albert and Rose (nee Ryan) Potter.

Grace married her childhood sweetheart, John, at age 18 in 1957. They had five children in ten years and Grace took on the bulk of the work at home. She raised her children with great love and care while John worked his way up the ladder at Putman Publishing. In 1973, they had the opportunity to purchase the business and Grace put up her $35,000 inheritance as the down payment. In 1981, John passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer and Grace honored his request that she try and keep the business in the family. She more than kept her promise, helping the business flourish while remaining at the helm from 1981 until her retirement in 2004.
Grace loved traditions, celebrations and great food. Christmas was her favorite time of year, with proof residing in a storage shed full of Christmas decorations. She found great joy in building and decorating homes, traveling, entertaining, shopping for fashionable clothes and shoes, and giving the perfect gift. Grace was always generous, giving time and later treasure to a wide variety of causes. As a mother with five young children she made it a point to regularly cook dinner for elderly neighbors.
Later in life her greatest passion was animal rights, and then supporting our veterans through a steady stream of donations each month. Her mailbox was nearly full daily with equal numbers of requests for help and thank you cards from countless organizations.  One of her favorite trips was volunteering at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah. She fell in love with their mission that there be “No more homeless pets”.
In public Grace was out-going and excellent at making people laugh. She would be a favorite of the servers at the best restaurants wherever she happened to be living at the time.

Grace will be greatly missed by the countless people she touched. She truly lived a wonderful life.

Grace was a loving mother to her children, Jenny Grace, the late Julie Cappelletti-Lange, John (Laura Lee), Nick, and Melody (Anthony Somoza); and a devoted grandmother to Johnryan (Plami), Joshua, Zachary, Jessica, Kelly, Christina, Cara, Kathryn, Mary, and Joseph.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, John Martin Cappelletti, Sr.; and brother, Leroy Potter.

Services for Grace were held privately.

The family requests in lieu of flowers that any donations be made to one of Graces’ favorite causes, Best Friends Animal Society: 5001 Angel Canyon Road, Kanab, Utah 84741-5000. Phone: 435-644-2001.