Father Edward J. Cappelletti, S.D.B.

Father Edward J. Cappelletti, S.D.B., a director of Salesian Missions in New Rochelle for nearly four decades, died Dec. 12 at St. John’s Hospital in Yonkers. He was 92.

He was director of Salesian Missions in New Rochelle, 1959-1997. When he began his duties, the office was located in the provincial house basement and had a donor list of about 10,000 names. When he stepped down, the office had its own three-story building next to the provincial house and the donor list had grown to 1,350,000 names. Father Cappelletti was among the first fund-raisers in the country to use direct mail to make appeals.

He taught at three Salesian high schools in the archdiocese: Salesian High School in New Rochelle, 1955-1956 and 1958-1959; Don Bosco Juniorate in Haverstraw, 1951-1953 and 1956-1958, and Sacred Heart Aspirantate in Suffern, 1945-1946. He also served at two Salesian high schools in New Jersey.

He was the province’s development director for 25 years, and served as treasurer of the provincial house community.

In 1996 Pope John Paul II bestowed upon him the Papal Cross “Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.” In 2008, Don Bosco Catholic University in Campo Grande, Brazil, awarded him an honorary doctorate in humanities.

Born in the Bronx, he professed first vows with the Salesians of Don Bosco in 1940 and was ordained in 1950 in Turin, Italy.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Don Bosco College in Newton, N.J., and a licentiate in theology from the Salesian Pontifical Athenaeum in Turin.

Due to health issues, he moved to St. Cabrini Nursing Home in Dobbs Ferry in September.

A Funeral Mass was offered Dec. 17 at Holy Name of Jesus Church in New Rochelle. Burial was at the Salesian Cemetery in Goshen.