Judge Frank Caprio had famously humble beginnings. But Friday he is receiving a farewell in grand style — the Rhode Island equivalent of a state funeral — befitting a man some people called “the nicest judge in the world.”
The Archbishop of Boston Richard Henning will preside over the funeral Mass at the cathedral.
After that, there will be a procession down Atwells Avenue, in the neighborhood where he was born in a cold water flat 88 years ago.
Finally he will be laid to rest at St. Ann Cemetery in Cranston in a private family burial.
At the Rhode Island Convention Center Thursday, hundreds of people came to pay their last respects.
The judge lay in state on the second floor of the convention center, a police honor guard standing at attention by his side.
One by one, friends, family, and admirers quietly approached one by one.
“We were on the Central (High School) wrestling team together,” said Jake Bedrossian. “Seventy years ago, we won the state championship.”
“He could relate to people.” Bedrossian said of his friend. “His father was a milkman, you know?”
“He was a man who had compassion, that had love, and that cared about his community,” said community activist Joe Buchanan, who said most people know him as “Joe Buck.”
“He didn’t whimper and didn’t waver. He didn’t care what people thought. He just did what he thought was right,” Buchanan said.
Rosa De Castillo, director of Community Affairs and Outreach in the Rhode Island governor’s office, said she felt honored to know him.
De Castillo said she was often called on to translate for Spanish-speaking immigrants appearing in Judge Caprio’s court.
“I told them not to worry. Just tell the truth, and he’ll treat you fairly,” she said.
Famous for his humanity on the bench, the judge was not a soft touch. But he believed in second chances.
“He never used his position as a judge to intimidate people,” recalled Jim Vincent, former president of the Rhode Island NAACP and the Urban League.
“But if he gave you a break and then you wound up back in his court, he’d say, look, you know, ‘I gotta do what I gotta do.’” Vincent said. “People understood that and thought it was fair.”
That approach won Caprio national attention, including his own TV show, Caught in Providence.
Kelsey Swanson, a family friend, admired his authenticity. She said he was exactly the same off the bench as he was on the bench.
“He could have brought peace to the Middle East,” she said. “I’ll really miss him.”
