Gabriel Paul Caprio's Obituary
Gabriel P. Caprio of Tampa, FL and Bridgehampton, NY, the long term and twice President and CEO of Amalgamated Bank headquartered in New York City, passed away on August 21st, 2013 at the age of 85. A funeral Mass will be said at Espiritu Santo Church in Safety Harbor, FL Friday September 15th, 2023 at 10:30 am. In lieu of flowers, Memorial Contributions in Mr. Caprio's Memory may be made to the Erie Turntable efforts, https://www.erieturntable.org/caprio
Mr Caprio served as President and CEO of Amalgamated Bank for fifteen years, retiring at the end of 2005. During that period, Mr. Caprio and his management team produced record earnings and dividends for the Bank. Mr. Caprio was called out of retirement to serve a second term as Interim President and CEO from 2013-2014 to help stabilize the Bank after a period of financial distress.
At the time of his death, Mr. Caprio served as chair of the Board of Trustees of the New York College of Podiatric Medicine.
Mr. Caprio was born in Newark, NJ and grew up in Verona, NJ. He lived in Alexandria, VA, Upper Montclair, NJ and later moved to Glen Ridge, NJ where he resided for 33 years. He also maintained a home in Bridgehampton, NY for 23 years. Mr. Caprio graduated from Seton Hall Prep, received a BA from Seton Hall University and an MBA from New York University. In 2014 the New York College of Podiatric Medicine awarded him an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters for the work he had performed for the College.
Mr. Caprio served ten years in the United States Navy rising to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. After graduating from Officer Candidate School in 1959 he was assigned as Communications Officer of USS Elokomin (AO-55). Later, he was assigned as Navigator. During that period, Elokomin participated in numerous Cold War operations in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. In the Caribbean, Elokomin was involved in numerous contingency operations including the Bay of Pigs and the Dominican Republic crisis of 1961. Elokomin also supported President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s 1960 transatlantic flights to and from Paris meetings during which the President confronted Nikita Kruschchev of the Soviet Union. Next, Mr. Caprio was assigned as Executive Officer and Navigator of USS Dodge County (LST-722) during which time, at the age of twenty-four, was appointed Acting Commanding Officer and sailed the ship on a Good Will visit from Panama to Barranquilla, Columbia. During this period he was believed to be the youngest Commanding Officer of any ship in the U.S. Navy. Dodge County participated in classified contingency operations in Central America, operating out of Panama. The ship was also at the forefront of the Cuban Missile Crisis and was scheduled to be one of the first ships to land US Army tanks in Mariel, Cuba. Afterwards he served as Intelligence Officer of Amphibious Squadron 8 during which time he planned classified operations in the Caribbean. Mr. Caprio was then assigned as Operations and Readiness Officer and Advisor to the Vietnamese Navy 23rd River Assault Group operating out of Vinh Long in the Mekong Delta. In the Delta he participated in eight combat operations and numerous undocumented and unrecorded river and canal patrols. Returning from Vietnam, Mr. Caprio attended the prestigious US Naval Destroyer School and upon graduation was assigned as Operations Officer and Navigator of the nuclear armed Destroyer, USS Newman K. Perry (DD-883), Flagship of Destroyer Squadron 20. He also served as Destroyer Squadron 20 Navigator. During this period the Squadron participated in intense Anti-Soviet Bloc antisubmarine operations in the Atlantic and Nuclear Strike Force operations in the Mediterranean. Mr. Caprio was then assigned to the Office of the Secretary of Defense where he reviewed global situational events and provided briefing materials for the personal attention of Robert S. McNamara, Clark M. Clifford and their principal Deputies.
Mr. Caprio began his banking career in 1969 at First National City Bank (Citibank) and later worked at Chemical Bank and Chase Manhattan Bank. At Chase, as head of Operations and Systems in South and Central America and the Caribbean he was especially involved in the Bank’s expansion in South America where he and his team took back and rejuvenated Chase majority owned Banco Argentino de Comercio which had previously been appropriated by the Peron government. New Chase branches were opened in Asuncion in Paraguay, Santiago, Chile, and Lima, Peru. Numerous branches were upgraded and automated in the Caribbean. Mr. Caprio was especially proud of the advisory services that he and his team provided to virtually all Chase entities in his area of responsibility but especially Argentina, Panama, and Puerto Rico where he established many long-term friendships.
In 1985 he joined Oxford Research International Corp as Chief Finance Officer and in 1989 was recruited to Amalgamated Bank where he served briefly as Chief Financial Officer before being appointed to the position of President and CEO. During his tenure of fifteen years, the bank produced record earnings and dividends with little or no losses and grew from $1.8 billion to $4.5 billion in assets. He was especially proud of his staff at Amalgamated.
Mr. Caprio served on the Boards of numerous organizations, including the New York Bankers Association where he was very active for fifteen years and served as Chairman in 2003. He also was named Chairman Emeritus of the Bankers Advisory Board of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. He served on the Boards of Catholic Charities Neighborhood Services of the Dioceses of Brooklyn and Queens, The New York College of Podiatric Medicine, the Board of Overseers as well as on the Advisory Board of the School of Management of New Jersey Institute of Technology, the Council of Senior Centers and Services of New York City, the Advisory Board of Neighborhood Housing Services of New York City and NADAP, a New York City based organization with the role of helping individuals overcome barriers to employment.
Mr. Caprio had a long-term interest in the writers and personalities of the 1920’s in Paris, especially Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce and Gertrude Stein. Hemingway was brought to his attention by his mother when he was a child. He was a member of The Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald and Joseph Conrad Societies. He also counted Winston Churchill, Eric Maria Remarque and Nicholas Monsarrat among his favorite authors. Mr. Caprio was especially interested in the biographies of civilian, naval and military leaders, especially those of WWII. His other strong long-term interests included Quantum Physics, wooden boat restoration, maritime and naval affairs, military and civilian aviation, railroad history and ship, airplane and railroad model building. During the late 1950’s he visited and photographed virtually every ocean liner that called on the port of New York.
Mr. Caprio’s military awards include the Joint Services Commendation Medal, the Navy Expeditionary Medal (Cuba), the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Commendation Gallantry Cross Medal with Palm, the Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Commendation Civil Actions Medal, First Class with Palm and the National Defense Medal.
Mr. Caprio was predeceased by his father, Gerald P. Caprio and his mother, Maria G. Conte Caprio and is survived by his wife Jerilyn, daughter Alyson, son-in-law Jeremy and Granddaughter Mia.
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