Gene Kapacila accepting the 2014 Legacy Award. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Community Leader

‘He really cared’: prominent P.A. businessman passes away

Oct 25, 2022 | 5:00 PM

One of Prince Albert’s more well-known business leaders has passed away.

Gene Kapacila died on Oct. 21 with his family by his side.

His son David told paNOW his father had recently been diagnosed with cancer but passed away sooner than they thought.

“I’m kind of thankful for that, he didn’t have to go through any suffering or pain,” he said.

According to David, his father was born to be a businessman.

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From working at a bank, which is where he met his wife Doreen, to selling vehicles and running his own grocery store, Kapacila’s career ended up being filled with different ventures.

“He was just a person who loved business, he loved working with the community,” David said.

This led to one of his proudest moments — being named the recipient of the 2014 Prince Albert and District Chamber of Commerce’s Legacy Award.

His love of everything business is also what drove him to start Gene’s Sports Excellence. What started out as a place to buy, and repair used skates expanded into bike repairs and a place to get different sports equipment and clothing.

The store was open for over 40 years but closed a couple of years ago.

Gene’s Sports Excellence is where many in the community got the chance to interact with Kapacila. David believes his father’s personality and character are why so many people didn’t just meet him once.

“He always listened to his customers, would talk about things other than trying to sell them something. He really cared about what people had to say,” he said.

This store was also a family-run business as Doreen worked alongside her husband during all of his business adventures, while other members of his family also worked there at one time or another.

In just a few days since his passing, the Kapacila family has been flooded with comments from people across the community sharing their condolences.

David explained this has helped put a smile on their faces during a tough time.

“The comments I notice the most are that he was a gentleman; he always had time to listen. We all knew that anyway but it’s nice to know that from people,” he said.

Kapacila’s family isn’t holding a formal funeral, as per his wishes.

—

Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow