Construction worker turned nurse passed down career to kids

Mark Capets was a construction worker before he became a registered nurse — a profession he passed on to his children.

“A lot of it is that my dad liked to fix things and take care of people. I have a lot of those same traits,” said his daughter, Erin Capets.

Mr. Capets left the construction industry partly because he got tired of the seasonal layoffs. He studied to become a licensed practical nurse and then a registered nurse.

“He and I decided to go to nursing school together,” his wife, Deborah Capets, said.

Mr. Capets worked in nursing for 23 years, first as an ER nurse and later as a pediatric nurse.

Mark A. Capets of Herminie died Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019, at his home. He was 63.

Born in Wilkinsburg on May 23, 1955, he was a son of Dolores (Bigler) Capets and the late Edward J. Capets. He graduated from Norwin High School and Waynesburg University.

He later studied nursing at Westmoreland County Community College. He and his wife worked at Monsour Medical Center in Jeannette — he in the emergency room and she in the ICU. After the hospital closed, they went to ATC Healthcare.

Mr. Capets finished his career at the epilepsy unit of UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, his wife said.

His daughter and oldest son also went into nursing, a decision they attribute to their parents’ love for the profession.

“Watching him, seeing the flexibility of that career, it was something I wanted to do,” his son Sean Capets said.

In his spare time, Mr. Capets enjoyed hunting, fishing and gardening. He took his children and grandchildren hunting and fishing, one time catching a 53.3-inch muskie in Grafton, W.Va.

“I caught my first muskie with him,” Sean Capets said.

Mr. Capets also enjoyed gardening, clipping pieces of plants he saw at restaurants and other businesses and replanting them, Erin Capets said.

“It would grow into these huge plants,” she said. “My parents’ house and my house are covered in all types of plants from all over the place. A lot of them have stories.”

Once, when Erin Capets lost her house in a house fire, she discovered the only plant that survived was a spider plant she and her father had started from a cutting.

“We called it our plant. … It just happened to be the only plant that withstood the fire,” she said.

Mr. Capets is survived by his wife of 37 years, Deborah M. (Modrak) Capets; his children, Sean Capets and his wife, Rochelle, Erin Capets, Mark Capets and Timothy Capets and three grandchildren.

Funeral services were held at Christian Life Church, 900 Seventh St. Ext., Trafford. Interment was held at Woodlawn Cemetery, Penn Township.