America meant everything, but his heart was in Cuba

By STEPHANIE HAYES, Times Staff Writer
Published August 3, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Juan Capote left Cuba with his family shortly after Castro came to power. He came here penniless, with only a second grade education and no knowledge of English. [Special to the Times]

TAMPA - That memory of her father - a playful, yet poignant moment - is crystal clear.

It was 1983. Together, Eli Rodriguez and her dad, Juan Capote, registered to vote for the first time.

"Did you figure out what you're going to register as?" he nonchalantly asked his daughter, then a teenager.

Republican.

"Good thing," he said. "Otherwise, you're not coming home."

The next year, Capote voted for Ronald Reagan - his first presidential vote as an American citizen.

It meant everything. America meant everything.

Capote died Tuesday at age 76, after years of battling Parkinson's disease.

He grew up poor in Cuba, in a family of nine children. When he was 10, his father died, and Capote left school.

As a young man, he noticed a beauty named Doris sweeping a porch in Havana. Nine months later, they married.

Fidel Castro changed things.

Shortly after Castro came to power, Capote moved his family to America. "He told my mother that he didn't want his children being raised as communists," Rodriguez said.

Penniless, with no education or knowledge of English, the family settled in Maryland. Capote learned to cut slipcovers for furniture, and made a living working for Sears and Montgomery Ward, his family said.

"They came to this country and never got one penny of public assistance," Rodriguez said.

Seeking sunnier weather, the family moved to Tampa in 1972. Capote got involved helping Cubans apply for citizenship and handle their finances.

He campaigned for Republican presidential candidates, going door to door, holding posters on roadsides and driving people to vote.

Ybor City's Jose Marti Park was his "little piece of Cuba." He helped renovate the park.

He paid fierce attention to political developments and news of Castro's health. But he never achieved his greatest dream - returning to a free Cuba.

Capote often recalled his boyhood, when bread was a penny and movies cost five cents. "I love the United States," he'd say. "But my heart will always be in Cuba."

He'll be buried with two flags inside the casket: one Cuban, one American.

Stephanie Hayes can be reached shayes@sptimes.com or 727 893-8857.

BIOGRAPHY

Juan Capote

Born: Feb. 26, 1931.

Died: July 31, 2007.

Survivors: Wife Doris; daughters Ana Capote Dubuque, Eli Rodriguez and Lissett Foreman; son Juan Manuel Capote; grandchildren Sebastian, Bryce, Gabriella and Sean; brothers Jesus, Alberto and Carlos; and sisters Marcela and Elvira.

Services: Visitation, 6-8 p.m. today, Garden of Memories Funeral Home, 4207 E Lake Ave., Tampa. Funeral, 12:30 p.m. Saturday.

[Last modified August 2, 2007, 23:25:45]