The Canadian Unitarian Council (CUC) sent out the following message:
Dear friends,
We are saddened to share the death of the Rev. Fred Cappuccino, who died at the age of 100 after an extraordinary life of ministry, service, courage, and love.
Fred’s life was deeply woven into Canadian Unitarian Universalism. He served congregations including Lakeshore Unitarian Universalist Congregation and was Founding Minister Emeritus of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ottawa, where he led the fellowship’s inaugural service in 1996. Just this January, UUFO gathered to celebrate Fred’s 100th birthday alongside the fellowship’s 30th anniversary.
But Fred’s ministry extended far beyond the walls of any congregation.
For Fred, faith was something to be lived. In 1965, he joined hundreds of clergy who travelled to Selma, Alabama, to stand with those struggling for racial justice. With his wife, Bonnie, he raised a family of 21 children, 19 of whom were adopted from countries around the world. Together, Fred and Bonnie founded Child Haven International in 1985, creating communities of care for children and women in India, Nepal, Tibet, and Bangladesh.
Over a century of life, Fred showed what it can mean to put our values into practice: to meet suffering with compassion, injustice with courage, and human need with generosity and action.
He received many honours, including the Order of Canada and recognition from UNESCO for teaching human rights. Yet the greater measure of his life can be found in the people, families, congregations, and communities shaped by his care.
Fred leaves Canadian Unitarian Universalists a remarkable legacy. We give thanks for his ministry, for the example of his life, and for the many ways his spirit will continue through those he inspired.
We hold Bonnie, Fred’s family, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Ottawa, the Child Haven International community, and all who knew and loved him in our hearts.
A fuller obituary celebrating Fred’s life will follow.
A celebration of Fred’s life will take place November 7 at 2:00 pm at the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa.