Deidre Caproni: Family Seeks Stories About the Woman with the Storybook Life

The family of a former Bethany woman dedicated to bringing children’s storybook characters to life is hoping to find residents willing to share stories of their own.

The late Deidre Caproni, who for 25 years as a Bethany Community School (BCS) volunteer brought classic characters like Rumpelstiltskin to life, will be recognized locally with two services—a dedication ceremony at 3 p.m. Feb. 18 in the BCS Library and a memorial service at 11 am Feb. 19 at Christ Episcopal Church on Amity Road.

Friends and family have also created a website  that they’d like to use to recognize her globally. Written and maintained by Tamra Velleca, BCS media specialist, the site [http://www.bethany-ed.org/page.cfm?p=608] currently focuses on providing information about The Deidre Salmona Caproni Memorial Fund for the Advancement of Literature & the Arts, which her sons Christopher, 52, and Marc, 58, established shortly after her death in 2010 at age 84.

The text and newspapers articles included on the site do a wonderful job chronicling Mrs. Caproni’s life and achievements, Christopher said. But missing is the spirit that he described as “irrepressible and wonderfully contagious.”

To change that, he’d like to add testimonies from former students, parents and anyone else with fond remembrances of Mrs. Caproni.

“My mother loved life so much, and she especially loved children,” said Christopher, who now lives in Mill Valley, Calif., but will be in Bethany for the two celebrations. More than 100 people are expected to attend the church service.

“She had a fantastic sense of humor, a boundless imagination and was as mischievous as she was quirky,” he added. “She was as likely to leave the house wearing a pig mask as she was to march down the street with a pot and wooden spoon. We want that spirit of hers to live on.”

The Feb. 18 ceremony at the BCS Library to dedicate an art library, several children’s books and other items purchased with Caproni Memorial Fund dollars will provide an in-person opportunity for story sharing, Christopher said. Those who’d like to share remembrances about Mrs. Caproni in writing can email ccaproni@comcast.net.

Donations are also being sought for the fund, which is being managed by The Community Foundation of Greater New Haven.

The goal is to raise $10,000 over the next three years, Christopher said.

Donations can be made online with a credit or debit card or by sending a check to The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, 70 Audubon St., New Haven 06510, with “Deidre Salmona Caproni Memorial Fund” written on the memo line.

In honor of the years Mrs. Caproni spent as a volunteer there, BCS is the first benefactor of the fund. Shelves and 70 books on art and art history were purchased to create an “Art Enrichment Showcase,” Velleca said. New, illustrated copies of Mrs. Caproni’s four favorite children’s books (The Children’s Own Longfellow, Complete Fairy Tales of Oscar Wilde, Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling and Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Match Girl) were also purchased, along with 15 books that Mrs. Caproni considered part of her “core literature wardrobe,” Christopher said.

Additional funds will cover half the money needed for BCS to participate in the 2011 Nutmeg Reading Challenge, as well as allow the school to restart “Literature for Lunch”—a program Mrs. Caproni founded in the 1980s to offer students dramatic readings of classic tales and stories.

A bookplate featuring the cover illustration of “Hallowell’s Friends,”[Christopher should have already sent this jpeg to you] a fairy tale Mrs. Caproni wrote during the 20 years she worked at Whitlock’s Book Barn in Woodbridge, will go inside each book the fund purchases.

“Bethany Community School is very fortunate to have been selected as a recipient of the fund,” Velleca said. “Deidre was a memorable volunteer. She always enjoyed being here.”

All are welcome to attend the dedication and memorial services. No RSVP is needed for either.