Deacon Capoun remembered as a storyteller

Deacon Marv Capoun’s travels as a member of a polka band and his work as a postmaster gave him a lot of friends and a lot of stories to tell, a fellow deacon said.

Deacon Capoun died Nov. 10 at St. Joseph’s Villa and Court in David City, Nebraska. He was 85.

A funeral Mass was held Nov. 13 at St. Mary Church in David City, where he and his wife, Clarice, moved after his retirement from active ministry.

His stories brought smiles, laughs and piqued people’s interest – and he used them in his ministry as he visited the elderly or delivered a homily, said Deacon Danny Hastings, a longtime friend who served with Deacon Capoun at Divine Mercy Parish in Schuyler.

“He knew a lot of people and impacted a lot of people,” Deacon Hastings said.

He described Deacon Capoun, who was ordained in 1991, as a “caring soul,” who “always had a story, and I think people were looking for that.”

“He was just a kind and gracious man,” his friend said. “He impacted people just by being himself.”

Deacon Hastings said Deacon Capoun was the first to suggest that he should be a deacon. “He planted the seed.”

Deacon Hastings’ wife, Carol, said the Capouns “taught by example” during their time at Divine Mercy and before that at the former St. Augustine Parish in Schuyler, which merged with St. Mary Parish there to form Divine Mercy.

“Marv will be missed very much,” she said.

Father Gerald Gonderinger, pastor at Divine Mercy, said Deacon Capoun was “a delightful man, a true gentleman with a wry sense of humor.”

Deacon Capoun was a Grand Knight and Fourth Degree Knight with the Schuyler Knights of Columbus Council.

He was preceded in death by his parents; infant daughter, Ann; brothers Robert (Margie) Ponec and William Ponec; and sister, Myra (Bernie) Kouma.

Survivors include his wife of 59 years; sons David and Deacon Mark (Lynne) Capoun, who serves at St. Wenceslaus Parish in Omaha; daughters Kay (Everette) Caldwell and Joan (Ted) Cech; sister-in-law Elsie Ponec; 15 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.