Lou Caponi, LCCA President

What a shock and very sad news. My sympathies to his family, both his real family and his family in this hobby. 

May Lou rest in peace.

Too sad, too soon and too much of a loss to the hobby, and, of course, most importantly, to his family and friends. My condolences to all those who knew Lou.  He will be missed by many in the hobby, of course.  I know I greatly appreciated his creativity and energy on behalf of the LCCA. 

Rest in peace Lou!!!

I also am very sad to hear about Lou. It seems that we were just talking about him and wishing him well during the LCCA convention. It's never fun to loose someone in this hobby. My thoughts and prayers are with Lou's family and all those he touched. 

This is very sad news.  Lou was always friendly to everyone including those he only interacted with through LCCA. He will be missed.

Lou was a good friend.  I first met Lou in 1980 and we have been good friends for years.  I conversed with Lou about two weeks ago and he brought me up to speed on his health.  Lou has always been a fighter and has been a great guy.  Lou loved his Family, Trains and cars.  Last year when I found out I had prostate cancer, Lou was the first to call me and show his support.  Thank you Lou.  Lou always had a smile and positive outlook on everything.  Like thousands of his friends, we will always miss him and take his memory with us until someone writes about us.

E-mail sent.

Thank you.

Al K.

I only met and talked with Lou a few times, at Lionel's Service Center open houses and at York, but he left quite an impression.  He was certainly an asset to the hobby and to the LCCA.  Goodbye Lou.

Andy

Whistles will sound for Lou tonight. My condolenceS to Lou's family and friends. 

Dealt with Lou when he had his stores in the Philly area, he was one of a kind. 

RIP my friend,

Dave F.

Condolences to Lou's family and friends.  His enthusiasm for the hobby was unbridled!

I will miss his posts here on the forum.  RIP Lou.

That is SO very true.  As the LCCA posting indicated, Lou had a larger-than-life personality, and I can't think of a better person to have the title LCCA President Infiniti bestowed upon him!  Seems like only yesterday that I would stop in at Train99 along Route 202 in the late 1980's.

Very sad to hear this news... 62 is much too young.

Deepest sympathies to Lou's immediate family and his close friends.  RIP, Lou.

David

Sincere sympathies to Lou's family and to his legion of friends from the entire staff at OGR.  Once you met the man, you could never forget him.  He truly was a one of a kind, and his love of the hobby and the LCCA was both inspiring and contagious.

Very said News- I met Lou in 1980 when I worked for Greenberg. Many times we all would go out to eat after the shows we also had lunch many times at the show during set up. We became very good friends.

in 2002 The Pittsburgh Area Hi-Railers set up for the LCCA convention in Pittsburgh. The next year 2003 Lou asked if we would take the Layout to Las Vegas. Lou always was able to make things happen.What a Great time we had.

After a Name change The Pittsburgh Independent Hi-Railers set up at 2 more LCCA Conventions for Lou. 

No matter when I saw Lou he always asked how my wife and daughter were doing.

RIP my Friend.

Our prayers go out to Rose and Dominic, Lous famly, and to Lou. He touched our hobby life at many points in our lives and made it a mor fun experience for each of us

Veronica and larry

We will miss you CAPS CAPONI!

Al K.

My sincere thoughts of condolences to Lou's family and many friends.

A name familiar to most active in this hobby, whether a member of LCCA or not..

So sorry to hear about Lou's passing.  He had such a dedicated passion for the future of LCCA and trains in general.  My sincere condolences to his family.  God bless you Lou.

TEX

Steve

Difficult to write...condolences to the family and thoughts for Lou.

A great loss of leadership in the TrainHead World.  

Sad news indeed, I knew him from York and he was one of the reasons I recently joined the LCCA. He will be missed. my condolences to the LCCA and his family.

Very sorry to hear this from Al K today.  My condolences to Rose and Dominick.  His humor and wit will be missed.

our prayers are with Lou's family. another one of the great ones gone. Lou and Marty at NJHR

Very sad to read this. Condolences to his family. Had a great passion for the hobby and I too will miss his posts.

I received this sad news from AL tonight when I was at work. I  feared this was coming after speaking to his wife yesterday so I called another one of his friends Steve Stanly who was by his bedside when they took him off of life support.

Like Marty above Lou was an old and dear friend who I will always miss from the bottom of my heart.

I think Lou would get a kick out of me telling you guys this story so here goes. I last saw Lou a little over a week ago when he came out of a month long coma. The hospital staff would not shave him because they where fearful of cutting him. You see his white cell count was low and infection was a real concern.

Well when I walked into his room he had this full beard on his face and it was as black as the hair on his head. I looked at him and said, I guess you finally proved it to me. What he asked? I replied with a grin your hair really is a natural black.

Well he gave that big beautiful, infectious smile of his and said I told you so.

I have many heart warming stories that attest to the quality of this man and maybe after the initial pain of the loss passes I will share them with you, but for now let it be known that one of the true greats has passed. 

My deepest sympathies to Mr. Caponi's family and many friends.  I had the pleasure of dealing with Loco Louie a couple of times about 10-12 years ago when I relieved him of a couple of MTH Pennsylvania Q2s - he acquired about 25 of them and was offering a 30% discount on his overstock. I still have them and will always associate them with the pleasurable personality I dealt with on the phone.  He was a disciple and ambassador to our hobby.  I lament his loss.  May the joy of his friendship continue to lighten the memories of all who will miss his jovial presence.

My condolences to Lou's family and friends. The train hobby has certainly lost a very valuable asset.

Gerry

Very sad to hear this. Condolences to his family, friends and the Club. A true loss for all of us.

A true shame and I will miss him.  I met him only twice but know he was a great toy train enthusiast who went to a lot of effort on behalf of this hobby. 

My condolences go out to his family, the most important part of his legacy.  I'll miss the "big man" with the infectious smile, pictured below with Marty, another icon of our hobby. Rest in peace Lou!

Friends

 I too would like to offer my condolences to Lou's family and friends. Lou was one of the guys in the hobby who knew many people, and many people knew him because he was one of the good guys.  I knew Lou for a few years and he was a very charismatic person. His goal for the LCCA was to always make it better. His dedication to the hobby and the LCCA were significant and can not be underestimated in both tangible and intangible ways.

The hobby has certainly lost an icon and a true leader.   

Rest in peace Lou.

Erol Gurcan

Rest in Peace Lou

Doug

Great man and friend to everyone. Condolences to his entire family.

Jack

Sad news indeed. Condolences to his family and friends.