August 19, 1957 – October 22, 2020
Robert Earl Capps passed peacefully on October 22, 2020, at his home in Truckee, California, with his sister, Carol Capps DiSabatino, niece, Sophia DiSabatino, lifelong friend, Jim Lewis, and his faithful lab, Nika, by his side after a long battle with glioblastoma. Robert was born on August 19, 1957, in San Francisco, California. In 1957 his family moved to Redwood City, CA and then to Woodside, CA in 1965 where he spent his childhood. Robert attended Woodside Elementary School, Truckee High School and graduated from Woodside High School in 1975. Because of his love of skiing he attended the University of Utah for his first two years. Due to a drought and lack of snow he transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, to finish his last two years of college graduating from the UC Berkeley Haas School of Business in 1980. While at Berkeley he was a member of the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity and a member of Skull & Keys Society.
Most of Robert’s friends were lifelong friends from elementary school, high school, college, and Squaw Valley where he resided for the last 45 years. It was his best friend from elementary school, Peter Ryan, who introduced him to skiing. Robert skied in freestyle competitions while in high school and later raced slalom in the Tahoe Town League. He valued and loved his friendships and held them close for the next adventure. His many friends accompanied him on his many adventures including heli-skiing around the world, hunting, mountain bike riding, and spending time on the lake. He attended Big Game every year with his buddies from Cal and Stanford. Robert also loved to fly his plane whether to work, on to more adventures, or to pick up his family to spend time together at Lake Tahoe. He loved to tease as he was speeding down the runway about to take off and say ‘here we go’ and after he had just lifted off the runway he would finish ‘ready or not’. Robert had a wicked sense of humor to match his infectious smile.
Robert was a real estate developer and the president of Capps Homes. Throughout the last 45 years he built spec homes, developed entire subdivisions and land developments throughout the San Francisco Bay Area including Woodside, Portola Valley, Atherton, Menlo Park, Redwood City as well as Lake Tahoe, Pensacola, FL, Mesa AZ, and Elko NV.
But the love of the mountains and snow skiing always brought him home to Lake Tahoe. Robert is survived by his daughter Nicole Capps, his Mom Gloria Capps, his sister Carol Capps DiSabatino and his niece Sophia DiSabatino, his Dad S Victor, his Aunt Sandy and Uncle John, numerous cousins and many, many friends. And last, but not least, his Goddaughter Eva Merrill and his Godson Jaime Hutter. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to a charity of your choice.
Memorial to be announced in 2021.