a pretty, half-Irish, half-Italiannursing student who was a year younger. She was a sweet-tempered, capable girl from Connecticut, who would graduate in 1973. Kay came from a family of five children, and she had a twin sister. Her dad was a classic Irishman, ruddy and hearty, and Tom was so different, quietly brilliant, capable, and thoughtful so much of the time. Even though he spoke in a gentle voice, there was something compelling about him. Kay was a good foil to Tom. While he was sometimes moody, she was steady and a natural caretaker. They dated all through college. “I decided to go to law school at Boston College because of Kay,” Tom remembered. “I had graduated, but she had another year to go.”
Kay and Tom were married in Fairfield, Connecticut, at high noon on June 17, 1972. Tom always said it was easy to remember his wedding day because it was the same day as the Watergate burglary. When she graduated, Kay found a job as a public health nurse. Her work took her to some of the shabbier and more dangerous streets in Boston, but she enjoyed it. Kay didn’t have to work—Lou and Marguerite supported the young couple and paid Tom’s tuition—but she
wanted
to work and she loved her job.
When Tom graduated from law school in 1974, his father was so proud that he cried. His oldest son was a lawyer! It was the realization of all of his dreams.
Kay and Tom Capano moved back to Wilmington after he graduated, but he didn’t look for a job right away. He studied that summer of 1974 for the Delaware bar exam. The young couple lived in a town house near Newark, Delaware, one of the ninety-six similar units in the huge Cavalier Country Club complex that Louie, Joey, and their father had built while Tom was in college in Boston.
Kay went to work immediately as a public health nurse, although Tom complained that he worried about her in the meaner neighborhoods of Philadelphia. He told people that he would have actually preferred that she not work at all. There was no need—his parents would take care of them until he was established.
In the fall, Kay enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania to work toward her master’s degree. She was a natural caregiver and saw no point in studying so long to be a nurse and then never practicing her profession. Kay hadn’t become pregnant in their more than two years of marriage and they were both a little disappointed about that, but not truly worried.
Marguerite approved of Kay as a daughter-in-law. She had seen how all of her sons had their eyes out for women, and there were any number of females she would not have chosen to join the Capanofamily. Kay Ryan Capano was pretty, smart, and strong—but not at all pushy. She adored Tom and waited on him hand and foot, just as Marguerite had always done.
July 4 was the official day for the Capanos to start the summer season at the shore. They always had a big party with fireworks. This year was no different, but now Tom and Kay were back in Wilmington with the family again. Tom studied for the bar exam all summer and he passed, but in Delaware, that didn’t mean he was officially an attorney; he still had to serve six months as a clerk. After his apprenticeship in a law firm, Tom’s first job as a lawyer was with the Public Defender’s Office. He enjoyed it; he had always been more interested in public service than in high-powered business. There, he and Louie—and even Joey—seemed to differ. For a year, Tom defended the indigent. It didn’t matter to his father where he worked; it was enough that his oldest son was officially a lawyer. He was very, very proud to be able to say, “My son the lawyer.”
Tom moved from working as a defense attorney to being a prosecutor. For the next two years he was a prosecuting attorney for the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, assigned to New Castle County and working in Wilmington. He hadn’t made much money as a public defender, and he made exactly the same as a prosecutor,
Kay and Tom were married in Fairfield, Connecticut, at high noon on June 17, 1972. Tom always said it was easy to remember his wedding day because it was the same day as the Watergate burglary. When she graduated, Kay found a job as a public health nurse. Her work took her to some of the shabbier and more dangerous streets in Boston, but she enjoyed it. Kay didn’t have to work—Lou and Marguerite supported the young couple and paid Tom’s tuition—but she
wanted
to work and she loved her job.
When Tom graduated from law school in 1974, his father was so proud that he cried. His oldest son was a lawyer! It was the realization of all of his dreams.
Kay and Tom Capano moved back to Wilmington after he graduated, but he didn’t look for a job right away. He studied that summer of 1974 for the Delaware bar exam. The young couple lived in a town house near Newark, Delaware, one of the ninety-six similar units in the huge Cavalier Country Club complex that Louie, Joey, and their father had built while Tom was in college in Boston.
Kay went to work immediately as a public health nurse, although Tom complained that he worried about her in the meaner neighborhoods of Philadelphia. He told people that he would have actually preferred that she not work at all. There was no need—his parents would take care of them until he was established.
In the fall, Kay enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania to work toward her master’s degree. She was a natural caregiver and saw no point in studying so long to be a nurse and then never practicing her profession. Kay hadn’t become pregnant in their more than two years of marriage and they were both a little disappointed about that, but not truly worried.
Marguerite approved of Kay as a daughter-in-law. She had seen how all of her sons had their eyes out for women, and there were any number of females she would not have chosen to join the Capanofamily. Kay Ryan Capano was pretty, smart, and strong—but not at all pushy. She adored Tom and waited on him hand and foot, just as Marguerite had always done.
July 4 was the official day for the Capanos to start the summer season at the shore. They always had a big party with fireworks. This year was no different, but now Tom and Kay were back in Wilmington with the family again. Tom studied for the bar exam all summer and he passed, but in Delaware, that didn’t mean he was officially an attorney; he still had to serve six months as a clerk. After his apprenticeship in a law firm, Tom’s first job as a lawyer was with the Public Defender’s Office. He enjoyed it; he had always been more interested in public service than in high-powered business. There, he and Louie—and even Joey—seemed to differ. For a year, Tom defended the indigent. It didn’t matter to his father where he worked; it was enough that his oldest son was officially a lawyer. He was very, very proud to be able to say, “My son the lawyer.”
Tom moved from working as a defense attorney to being a prosecutor. For the next two years he was a prosecuting attorney for the Delaware Attorney General’s Office, assigned to New Castle County and working in Wilmington. He hadn’t made much money as a public defender, and he made exactly the same as a prosecutor,
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