Remembering Ralph Capps, Wake Boys & Girls Clubs leader who helped ‘countless’ children
Ralph Capps, who expanded the Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County over 50 years of service into an organization helping thousands of children each year, has died.
Capps, 78, passed away at home on Friday.
Tributes have poured in since news came out about the death of the longtime president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County. Capps created a network of clubs that provide a safe place for children to play, learn and be around other kids and caring adults.
“Truly Heartbroken! The entire city of Raleigh mourns this am,” LeVelle Moton, the men’s basketball coach at N.C. Central University, posted Sunday on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This man created a ‘Safe Space’ at The Boys Club for so many inner city kids in Raleigh.
“Thank you for your profound impact. Thank you for saving my life. You will never be forgotten RIP Ralph Capps.”
Truly Heartbroken ! The entire city of Raleigh mourns this am. This man created a “Safe Space” at The Boys Club for so many inner city kids in Raleigh. Thank you for your profound impact . Thank you for saving my life. You will never be forgotten RIP Ralph Capps pic.twitter.com/LMfLcQQusI
— LeVelle Moton (@LeVelleMoton) November 19, 2023
Expanded Boys & Girls Clubs
Capps attended a Boys Club when he was a child. After graduating from college in 1967, he started working at the Boys Club of Chattanooga in Tennessee.
In 1973, Capps became executive director of the Raleigh Boys Club. The original Raleigh club opened in 1966 on Lane Street downtown and was one of the first Boys Clubs in the South that served both Black and white children from the start, Capps said in a 2016 News & Observer article.
The Raleigh Boys Club was in one church basement serving around 200 members in 1973. Over the next 50 years, the renamed Boys & Girls Clubs has grown to eight full-service clubs and a summer day camp that serves more than 3,000 young people a year.
The organization only charges families a $7.50 per year membership.
In 2014, the Ralph E. Capps Teen Center on Raleigh Boulevard was opened and named in his honor.
‘Countless thousands of Wake County children’
Capps was remembered at this week’s Wake County school board meeting. The Boys & Girls Clubs works closely with the school district on several projects.
“Countless thousands of Wake County children have benefited from Mr. Capps’ bold vision and energetic leadership,” said Wake Superintendent Robert Taylor.
Capps was the recipient of numerous awards over the years, including being inducted into the Raleigh Hall of Fame in 2016 and receiving the Order of the Longleaf Pine from Gov. Roy Cooper this year.
Last year, Capps received the WakeEd Partnership’s Vernon Malone Friend of Education Award.
“This is really going to be a loss for the community,” said school board vice chair Chris Heagarty. “But I’m going to be thankful for the lives he helped inspire and motivate along the way.”
Capps’ death comes as Wake County Commissioner James West died on Saturday and former Wake County Commissioner Betty Lou Ward died on Nov. 8.
“All giants of this community,” said school board member Monika Johnson-Hostler. “All giant supporters of our schools, our students and our communities.”
Memorial service plans
A celebration of Capps’ life will be held on Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Temple Baptist Church, 1417 Clifton Street, Raleigh. Visitation will begin at 11:30 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in Capps’ memory to the Boys & Girls Clubs, 701 N. Raleigh Boulevard, Raleigh, NC 27610; or Transitions LifeCare, 250 Hospice Circle, Raleigh, NC 27607 or transitionslifecare.org.
