LIHU‘E — After decades of service to his community and his church, Leonard “Leo” Aloysius Rapozo Sr., of Lihu‘e, died earlier this month at age 67. Rapozo was described by those close to him as a loving “community man” who
LIHU‘E — After decades of service to his community and his church, Leonard “Leo” Aloysius Rapozo Sr., of Lihu‘e, died earlier this month at age 67.
Rapozo was described by those close to him as a loving “community man” who spent his spare time helping others, whether it was through the Pop Warner Association or Lihu‘e’s Immaculate Conception Church. Rapozo spent 31 years as a football official and was also a youth baseball coach.
“His passion, his love, was officiating football and seeing those kids grow up,” said his son Lenny Rapozo, director of the county Department of Parks and Recreation, on Wednesday. “He was definitely a community man, not just sports, but all the people. He left his imprint on Kaua‘i.”
The younger Rapozo said his father had graduated from Kaua‘i High School in 1959 and later married his “sweetheart” Laola after a brief courtship and a stint in the Air National Guard. The two were born one day apart in 1941 and remained married for 45 years, having four children together.
Leo Rapozo worked as a superintendent for Grove Farm Rock Company, a bus driver for Hertz, an office clerk with Kaua‘i Freight Service, and later became owner of Leo’s Ice House. He served as president of the Lihu‘e Pop Warner Association and later the Kaua‘i Pop Warner Association, and was a one-time police commissioner.
Thomas Contrades, a Kapa‘a resident and long-time friend of Rapozo’s, said Leo did much volunteer work and served as Immaculate Conception’s unofficial church historian, as he knew when it was built and where everyone had been interred. Rapozo also served as parish council president and the head of building maintenance for the church, Contrades said Wednesday.
“He was a very loving, kind, wonderful friend, and he’s going to be missed by all of us,” Contrades said.
Visitation is from 8 to 10 a.m. today at Immaculate Conception Church; service begins at 10 a.m. Burial is at Kaua‘i Veterans Cemetery. Aloha attire is suggested.
• Michael Levine, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or via e-mail at mlevine@kauaipubco.com
