Lara Acampora (1969-2023)
Lara Ann Acampora, 54, of Poughkeepsie, and formerly of Beacon, died April 24.
She was born in Brooklyn on Jan. 23, 1969, the daughter of Erwin and Mary (Hawksby) Strassberg. On Oct. 15, 1995, she married Pasquale Acampora in Tarrytown. He died in 2005.
Lara is survived by her daughters, Mia Acampora and Emmanuelle Carmine, both of Fishkill. Her brother, Stevan Strassberg, died in 2021.
A memorial service was held May 5 at Salem Tabernacle in Beacon.
Robert Adams (1934-2023)
Robert Bryson Adams, 88, a 69-year resident of Beacon and formerly of Washington, D.C., died at home surrounded by family members.
He was born Aug. 1, 1934, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, the son of Lester and Annabelle Adams. On July 3, 1954, Robert married Mary Norman, who died in 1990. He married Anne Killmer in 1995, who survives.
Robert retired from IBM in 1992. He was a member of the Quarter Century Club, the Southern Dutchess Country Club and an honorary life member of the Knights of Columbus, Trinity Council 445. He was a parishioner of St. Joachim-St. John the Evangelist Church. He was also a Boy Scout leader when his sons were involved with scouting.
Bob liked to hunt and fish with his sons and friends. He loved golfing and taking trips to Florida. He also enjoyed family gatherings.
He is survived by his sons, Timothy Adams (Lynne) of Indian Land, South Carolina, and Bryson Adams (Christine) of Beacon; his daughters, Susan Adams and Mary Beth Adams, both of LaGrange; his stepdaughter, Marybeth (Pat) Cahill of Highland; his granddaughters, Colleen Ramsey (Eric) and Kerry Hussey (David); three great-grandchildren; four step-grandchildren; and three step-great-grandchildren.
His brother, George Adams, daughter, Cathleen Adams and stepson John Komornik died before him.
Family and friends will be received on Sunday (May 7) from 2 to 5 p.m. at Riverview Funeral Home by Halvey, 2 Beekman St., in Beacon. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. on May 8 at St. Joachim Church, 51 Leonard St. in Beacon, followed by interment at St. Joachim Cemetery.
Memorial donations may be made to Hudson Valley Hospice (hvhospice.org) or the Dutchess County Office of the Aging (dutchessny.gov).
Izedin Capollari (1943-2023)
Izedin Capollari, 79, of the Town of Newburgh, and formerly of Beacon, died April 26 at Montefiore St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh, surrounded by family members.
He was born Oct. 17, 1943, in Pogradec, Albania, the son of Ramadan and Behije (Fasho) Capollari. Izedin emigrated to the U.S. in 1967. The story of his emigration to the U.S. is that of Eastern Bloc and Cold War folklore.
On Feb. 16, 1970, he married Anife Alioska in North Macedonia (formerly Yugoslavia). She died on Nov. 5, 2022.
For many years, he worked as a machinist for the Brunetto Cheese Manufacturing Co. in Beacon, until his retirement in 1988. A skilled handyman, he had a thorough knowledge of construction and could fix anything around the house in addition to working on cars. His hobbies included gardening and fishing, and he had a profound love of German automobiles.
Izedin opened his home to many Albanians who came to the U.S. and served as an advisor to the families who were seeking guidance on getting settled.
He was incredibly proud of his Albanian heritage and loved explaining cultural traditions and sharing stories of his past. He’ll be remembered as a man of great integrity, strong family values, strong attention to detail, “doing the job right the first time” and an incomparable work ethic, his family said.
While slow to adapt to the American culture and way of doing things, Izedin was surprisingly a big fan of U2, Robert Palmer and Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.
He is survived by his children, Mersin Capollari (Jennifer) of Beekman, Virgil Capollari of Fishkill and Ardiana Cekici (Jurgen) of Newburgh; and his siblings, Husen Capollari, Nexhat Capollari, Safet Capollari and Mukades Cake.
A graveside service took place April 29 at Wappingers Falls Rural Cemetery.
Robert Chambers (1931-2023)
Robert N. Chambers, 91, formerly of Beacon and Fishkill, died May 1 at his home in Naples, Florida.
He was born in New York City on May 26, 1931, to Nicholas and Lillian “Leah” (Schops) Chambers. His sister, Vivian Lillian Chambers, died of pneumonia at age of 3, two months before he was born.
His mother died in 1935 at 39, just before Robert’s fourth birthday. He was raised by his grandparents (Jacob and Dora Schops) and aunt (Ettie Schops), as well as various cousins, aunts and uncles, all of whom either spoke German or Yiddish as their primary language in the home. His first language was German.
Robert graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City in 1948. While he began working at the age of 13 to help support his family, his first “formal” job began in 1947 when he was hired as a messenger for the First National City Bank of New York (now Citibank).
He enlisted in the U.S. Army in December 1949. Because of his fluency in German, he was stationed in Karlsruhe and Pirmasens as a translator, staff sergeant and company clerk and liaison between the 17th Signal Battalion and local German municipal officials during the Korean Conflict.
After being discharged at the end of 1953, he returned to First National City Bank as a full-time teller. While he never achieved a formal college degree, he attended various night classes at the Fordham Downtown School of Business, Pace College (now Pace University) and the American Institute of Banking.
In 1956, he became an assistant national bank examiner under the U.S. Comptroller of the Currency, U.S. Treasury Department, 2nd Federal Reserve District. This role led him to Beacon and the Matteawan National Bank (later Farmers Matteawan Bank), one of the entities for which he had oversight. He fell in love with Beacon and decided to leave New York City and move there, taking a role as a cashier for the Matteawan Bank in 1960.
On a blind date in 1965, he met Mary Ellen Mulvey of Pleasant Valley, whom he married in 1966 — a day he described as “the happiest day of his life.” They were recognized as Family of the Year by Family Services in 1995, among other notable achievements. She died in 2010 at age 70, after 45 years of marriage.
It was in Beacon where he met Earl Ketcham, Steven Blodgett and Harold Burton, each of whom became a personal and professional mentor. In 1966, he joined the staff at Fishkill Savings Bank. At that time, it was the smallest savings bank in New York state.
After several mergers, and over the course of years of building his business acumen, he became chairman, president and CEO of what ultimately became Mid-Hudson Savings Bank and First Inter-Bank Holding Co., with 15 branches in five counties and, at the time, one of the largest publicly traded banks in the Hudson Valley.
He was a gentleman’s banker, who made commitments on his word and with a handshake. He helped families with their first mortgages, arranged business loans that built communities and found ways to make sure that the dreams of a college education were within reach for his customers.
Robert was active in the Hudson Valley in his volunteer work with service, philanthropic and business associations. One such achievement came in 1993, when the Hudson Valley was rocked by the loss of thousands of jobs at IBM in Poughkeepsie, East Fishkill and Kingston.
With the late Paul Ganci (president and CEO of Central Hudson) and T. Jefferson Cunningham (president and CEO of Fishkill National Bank), he worked to develop a public-private partnership, raising private capital and federal, state and county funding to stand up the External Marketing Council, which was organized to market the region and fill hundreds of thousands square feet of vacant commercial office space.
Those efforts still exist today under the direction of the Dutchess County Economic Development Corp., where he at one time served as president of the board. He was also president of the Southern Dutchess Chamber of Commerce, Dutchess County Area Fund (now Community Foundations of the Hudson Valley), the Vassar Brothers Medical Center hospital and foundation boards and Grinnell Library, and was a founding member and charter president of the Southern Dutchess Exchange Club.
His banking career extended into industry-leading work as a board member of the Federal Home Loan Bank as well as repeat terms as chairman of the Community Bankers Association of New York State.
Beloved and respected by many, he enriched people’s lives with a true sense of selflessness, incredible generosity, great humor and fun, his family said. He was a man of unwavering faith and dedicated his rosaries every day to anyone who needed an extra prayer. He connected with people at the most genuine level.
He was a collector of antiques (and in particular, clocks) and a lover of spumoni ice cream. He enjoyed his Alps Sweet Shop milk chocolate and basset hounds, and was also known to enjoy, on occasion, a nice glass of Mark West pinot noir.
Bob is survived by his two daughters, Mary Beth Chambers (Michael Forbes) in Rochester, Minnesota, and her two children in Austin, Texas: Evan Kean (Bayli Williams) and Olivia Kean. Last year, he was blessed with his first great-grandson, Brady Evan Kean. His youngest daughter, Ann Chambers Meagher, lives in Millbrook with her son, Jack Mulvey Meagher.
He is also survived by many wonderful friends, both in the Hudson Valley and in the Tower Point/Arbor Trace Senior Living Community in Naples, where he spent the last 20-plus years.
A celebration of his life will take place at St. Columba Catholic Church on Route 82 in Hopewell Junction on May 13 at 11:30 a.m. Memorial donations may be made to Grinnell Library in Wappingers Falls (grinnell-library.org) or the Arbor Trace Foundation (arbortrace.com).
Anthony Perpetua (1929-2023)
Anthony J. Perpetua, 93, died at his home April 29, surrounded by family members.
He was born Sept. 30, 1929, in Beacon, the son of Cosmo and Margaret (Victor) Perpetua. He married Diana Sands, and they were married for 50 years before her death.
After serving in the Marine Corps, Anthony was a butcher by trade for more than 50 years. He was a bowler and enjoyed golf, playing cards and, most of all, spending time with family and friends. Anthony was a lifelong member of St Joachim-St John the Evangelist Church.
He is survived by his children: Renae Perpetua, Wendi DeMarco, Roderick Perpetua, Michelle Frost (Eric) and Erica Perpetua; his daughter-in-law, Jennifer Spreer, and his grandchildren: Alexandra Frost, Ryan Frost, Anthony Perpetua and Donald Perpetua. He also is survived by his extended family, Nicole, Ethan and Aidan Sullivan, and Daniel Demers.
His siblings, Patrick, Damon, Carmen and Maryann Perpetua, and Sue Fitzgerald, died before him.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated May 5 at St John the Evangelist Church in Beacon, and a burial service with military honors is scheduled for 10 a.m. on May 13 at St. Joachim Cemetery in Beacon.
