Those who worked with Dr. Neil Capretto described him as loving, selfless and empathetic, particularly with individuals affected by drug and alcohol addiction.
Capretto, who was medical director of Gateway Rehabilitation Center in Center Township for 30 years, died Saturday. He was 62 years old.
“Neil set a standard of care, compassion and professionalism which has been the model for the entire staff of Gateway Rehab,” said Paul Bacharach, CEO of Gateway Rehab, in a prepared statement. “His ability to see the value and potential in every individual seeking freedom from addiction has been a shining example that we all strive to emulate. Neil possessed the unique ability to fully understand and address the complexity of the biological, psychological, social and spiritual nature of addiction.”
Capretto had been receiving treatments for a rare form of cancer since 2016, having been initially diagnosed with small cell carcinoma of the gallbladder. He was diagnosed with cancer a second time last June.
Despite that, Capretto told The Times last year during a period of remission that he kept a positive outlook, and continued to advocate for those with drug addiction.
“I'm going to control what I can: My attitude, my faith, just try to be positive and make the best of it. And I really accepted, I didn't want to die… but I was OK,” Capretto said last year. “If that's what God's plan was for me, I was ready to go. And as I said, I kept praying, as I still do, try to find the strength and wisdom to know what his plan is and live that.”
That outlook persisted to the end, said Kate Lowery, of the Beaver County Behavioral Health Drug and Alcohol Program, who was her mentor and friend for 31 years.
She first knew him when he was medical director of the former Community Health Center in Rochester.
“Even up until the very end, he just had such a brave, gracious, beautiful perspective on what was going on in his life, and he paralleled that to the plight of addiction,” she said.
“I just think if everybody would take a little part of each day to be like Neil, we would have a better society,” she added.
Laura Propst, founder of Not One More Pittsburgh, an addiction education and prevention advocacy organization, also visited him in the hospital last week.
He was in pain, but smiling and in good spirits, she said.
“We have what we have,” he told Propst.
And during that last conversation, they were still talking about those who would continue to advocate for those impacted by addiction.
“He has touched just so many people,” she said. “... The way that he reached people, he was selfless and giving. We just grew a special bond. He encouraged me.”
Even through his cancer diagnosis, he focused on how he could still help others.
“He was just a loving man. When he was diagnosed with cancer, he would talk about how he was fighting a battle. He would use his understanding of the battle that he was in as a way to communicate with people who had addiction,” said Dave Lozier, Beaver County district attorney.
During a Not One More candlelight vigil last year, having found out he was just diagnosed with cancer again, he still went up to give a speech about the seriousness of drug addiction in the community.
"This man was pretty much given the worst news he could have," Propst said. "Instead of going home, and going to his family, instead of that, he came straight to our event and put on his Neil Capretto hat for all the love and care for everybody."
He had a true passion for helping those with addiction.
"My work means a lot to me,” he told The Times last year. “I mean, we are now facing the largest drug epidemic our community has ever seen. I mean, Beaver County only years ago, had single-digit overdose deaths. (In 2016), we had 102. ... It's very challenging work, but it's also very rewarding. When you help one person, not only do you help them, but you also help, usually, the entire family, and a good part of the community. So I want to keep doing this as long as I can.”
He lived by the same words that he advised for his patients.