Harold Peter "Herb" Capozzi (April 24, 1925 – November 21, 2011) was an athlete, businessman, professional sports team manager and political figure in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. He represented

Vancouver Centre Vancouver Centre (french: Vancouver-Centre) is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1917. It is the riding with the biggest Japanese community in Canada. As ...

in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia from 1966 to 1972 as a

Social Credit Social credit is a distributive philosophy of political economy developed by C. H. Douglas. Douglas attributed economic downturns to discrepancies between the cost of goods and the compensation of the workers who made them. To combat what he ...

member. He was born in Kelowna in 1925, the son of Pasquale "Cap" Capozzi, an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

immigrant. Capozzi won a sports scholarship to the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

, where he received

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

and

BComm A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

degrees. At university, Herb was a member of the BC Alpha chapter of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. In 1952, he moved to Calgary, where he worked for Shell Oil. Capozzi played with the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-o ...

and

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. As a

racketball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase velo ...

player, he won the Canadian Masters championship in 1974 and the Canadian Golden Masters championship in 1981. Capozzi was general manager of the

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions played their first seas ...

from 1957 to 1966 when he was elected to the provincial assembly. The Lions won the Grey Cup in 1964. He loaned the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

team then owned by Northwest Sports enough money to continue operations in 1971, helping to keep the team in Canada. Capozzi established the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Mar ...

soccer team in 1974. He served as owner, president, and board chairman of the team. Under his ownership, the team won the North American Soccer League (NASL) Soccer Bowl title in 1979. He was a member of the

BC Sports Hall of Fame The BC Sports Hall of Fame is a museum located in BC Place Stadium, at Gate A, the main entrance to the stadium, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It collects, preserves, studies and interprets materials that relate to British Columbia's spo ...

and the

Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2019, the Canada Soccer Ha ...

and had received the

Order of British Columbia The Order of British Columbia (french: Ordre de la Colombie-Britannique) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier ...

in 2008. Capozzi was a director responsible for food, entertainment and housing for

Expo 86 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...

. He was a co-founder of

The Keg The Keg is a Canadian-owned chain of steakhouse restaurants and bars located in Canada and the United States. The original "The Keg and Cleaver" restaurant was founded by George Tidball, in 1971, at a location in North Vancouver, British Colu ...

restaurant chain with George Tidball and was instrumental in bringing

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

restaurants to Canada. He was an owner of Calona Wines and the Capri Hotel (now the Coast Capri Hotel) and Capri Centre Mall. Capozzi was also president of Pasadena Investments, a development company based in Kelowna. He died at home in Kelowna at the age of 86 from

tongue cancer Oral cancer, also known as mouth cancer, is cancer of the lining of the lips, mouth, or upper throat. In the mouth, it most commonly starts as a painless white patch, that thickens, develops red patches, an ulcer, and continues to grow. When on ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Capozzi, Herb 1925 births 2011 deaths Basketball people from British Columbia BC Lions general managers British Columbia Social Credit Party MLAs Businesspeople from British Columbia Calgary Stampeders players Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent Canadian politicians of Italian descent Canadian sportsperson-politicians Members of the Order of British Columbia Montreal Alouettes players National Hockey League owners Players of Canadian football from British Columbia Sportspeople from Kelowna UBC Thunderbirds basketball players UBC Thunderbirds football players UBC Sauder School of Business alumni