Robert (Big Bob) Capozzi, 77, of Tryon, went home to meet the Lord on December 22, 2017 at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center.

Born in Greensburg, Pa. on October 22, 1940, he was the son of the late Pasquelina, fondly known by family and friends as Bessie, and Carmine Capozzi. In early childhood he established a dominating command over any and all athletic persuasions, competing alongside his twin Richard. The two were often forced to share a single pair of shoes between them, and opponents could tell the boys apart simply by discerning whether or not the feet flighting past them were bare.

In early adulthood, Robert built a life as a brick mason, alongside his wife Marlea. Together they raised their five children with the success one might expect from a pair as fundamentally different as Bob and Mar. While Marlea was and is a woman of larger than life proportions, Robert had a gentle and quiet personality that needed only a stern stare to bring his rowdy hoard to order.

Robert spend the remainder of his life in Tryon, working alongside his children and wife at Side Street Pizza and Pasta, a restaurant that according to him, only produced a perfect pizza when he himself had a part in its assembly.

After retirement Robert spend his days gardening, cooking, and making well timed jokes underneath his breath. He was a man who cared about the welfare of others, and showed those sentiments in the best way he knew how: through food. Robert believed that there wasn’t a thing under God’s great domain that couldn’t be supplemented or remedied with a meal shared between those you love. For this reason, those who remember Big Bob will most likely remember him in the kitchen, armed with cloves of garlic and a wooden spoon. He was a member of Hickory Grove Baptist Church, and had a heart of a servant. His smile and laugh were contagious.

Surviving beside his wife Marlea are: his twin, Richard Capozzi; children, Gina Stott, Marlea Canfield, and Robert, Joseph, and Nicholas Capozzi ; grandchildren Dylan Stott, Anthony Pereira, and Zane, Cameron, Ashton, Nicholas and Grey Capozzi; great grandchildren, Cole and Hadley Pereira, and Daisy Canfield (the furriest and arguably the cutest of us all); along with relatives of innumerable proportions.

Memorial services will be announced at a later date. Until then, one might suggest eating Krispy Kreme donuts, or watching a Pittsburgh Steelers game on mute to honor the memory of this exceptional man.

An online guest register is available at www.mcfarlandfuneralchapel.com.

McFarland Funeral Chapel & Crematory
Tryon, N.C.