Patricia LaMacchia (1966)

A gentleman and perfect host always at Casa Capri.

Paul Vanderfin (1964)

WOW, THIS IS A SAD DAY FOR ME. LOUIE AND I WERE TEAMMATES AND SPECIAL FRIENDS. ALL OF THE WRESTLERS 1960-1964 HAVE LOST A FRIEND AND ALLY.

I NEVER CAME TO KENOSHA FROM BILOXI,MS WITHOUT STOPPING IN TO SAY HI AND HAVE A MEAL WITH LOUIE.

BE AT REST DEAR FRIEND!!

PAUL VANDERFIN

William (Lee) Sawtell (Johnson) (1964)

Louie wasn't a great friend we certainly traveled in a different circle.  But knowing that another one of our classmates has transferred from the living into the non living is a reminder of our mortality and that we members of the class of 1964 are nearing the end of our run. I hope that where ever Louie is now he is content happy joyous and relieved.  ( a reflection of my desire for a heaven )  If the end is just and end like turning the lights out. I hope he didn't suffer.  (a reflection of my fear that when we die it is all over )  With Louie's death it is a reminder to all of us that the end is coming closer every day.  So if you can see this Louie lets get a beer and talk about being 18 again.  That is if I end up in the same place as you.

Bonnie Gallatin (Kreger) (1964)

Rest in peace Butch.  You were one of the special guys that brightened everyone's life.  You were always so gracious when I brought my friend Jane to the restaurant.  She's going to be 100 this year and she still talks about all the time we spent there.  Thanks again.  Will miss you on my next trip back.

Dennis Connolly (1964)

lewis was a kind  and very  giving  guy ,,  always  sincerely was interested the well-being  of others

we had a great time  in  the JV sophmore  football team where lou and 14 classmates worked hard together  and developed a good unity  and a few fun spaghetti  team dinners

,, --great memories ,  we'll miss you lou .peace man, dennis connolly

Juliette Smith (Whyte) (1964)

Butch was a sweetheart - we would always talk about how important family is. I will miss seeing him when I go to Casa Capri.

Daniel Hughes (1964)

My deepest sympathy to Louie's family.  I remember Louie as a fellow student, athlete, but most importantly as a good person.  With deepest regards, Dan Hughes

Gregory Nelson (1965)

Each Monday, the Kenosha News takes a look at the life of a Kenosha County resident who recently died. We share with you, through the memories of family and friends, a life remembered.

Casa Capri owner Butch Stella was all business. And he was all family.

“Dad said that even though the business ran your life, family was first,” said Stella’s son, Louis “Hondo” Stella.

Said daughter Anna Beth: “When I asked (to work) more hours at the restaurant, Dad told me to spend more time with my kids.”

Lifelong friends and customers were family, too. “If you were ever in Casa (Capri) more than three times, he knew your name,” said Joe Madrigrano.

“Butch called me his little brother,” said Jim Cicchini. “He was the kind of guy who put family, friends and business as his top priorities and put himself second.”

Stella’s friends remained so forever. “He went to (Vietnam) and I went to college, and every time our friendship was interrupted we could pick up right where we left off,” Madrigrano said.

Second-generation owner of Stella’s Casa Capri, 2129 Birch Road, Lewis “Butch” Stella, died Jan. 19 at his home. He was 68. His survivors include his wife, Jan; son, Louis "Hondo" Stella; daughter Anna (Kevin) Beth; three grandchildren; a brother, Tony (Judy) Stella; and a sister, Sandy (Dave) Bastianelli as well as in-laws, nieces, nephews and cousins.

Back from war

Stella was born in Kenosha on Aug. 10, 1946, to Louis and Rosemary Stella. He attended local schools, graduating from St. Joseph High School. In 1966 he was drafted into the Army, serving in Vietnam until he was honorably discharged in 1968.

Stella began dating his future wife, Jan Schutz, after he returned from the service, but the two had already met as next-door neighbors when they were children.

“When he got back from the war he asked his mother, ‘Who’s the blonde next door?’ ” Hondo said. The rest, so they say, was history, and the two were married on Jan. 9, 1971.

Making pizza

Stella’s place in the family restaurant began when he was just 8, making pizzas in the kitchen of the newly opened Casa Capri, located at 8237 Sheridan Road. In 1967 the building was gutted by fire, prompting his father to seek another location for the restaurant.

In 1984, when Casa Capri reopened on the site of a restaurant formerly known as the Center of the World, Butch Stella joined his father in moving the family business forward.

Taking on more responsibility, the younger Stella recognized the need to keep Casa Capri on the radar with a new generation of diners.

New generation

In the mid-1990s, he updated the original menu of spaghetti and meatballs, fried fish and pizza, adding new entrees of seafood, chicken and veal.

“He kept the old, but expanded on it. He realized we were not the only pizza place in town,” Hondo said.

“Grandpa was the (restaurant’s) foundation stone, and my father was able to sculpt it into what it is today,” Hondo said.

On the hunt

When not working, Butch Stella loved hunting for wild mushrooms and hosting wild game night for his friends at the restaurant. Friends who hunted brought in their bounty, and Stella would create dishes like rabbit cacciatore with wild mushroom pasta.

He was also talented at scouting for wild asparagus, said Beth.

“He could spot a crop of asparagus at the side of the road while driving,” she said.

For Stella, fresh, local produce was a critical ingredient of the restaurant, and he always grew a plot of herbs and tomatoes on the premises. For himself, he enjoyed “old-school dandelion salads,” said Beth.

Tradition

Tradition and standards were a part of who he was, said his children. Once, when Beth questioned whether they could break from tradition and have meat on Christmas Eve, he answered her, “Is there something wrong with tradition?”

Stella also believed in certain social niceties, such as requesting servers to remove facial piercings when entering the dining room, said Hondo. “Grandpa might have had a different approach,” he added.

Next generation

Setting the stage for passing down management of the restaurant, Stella taught his son and daughter business rudiments at an early age.

“I learned cooking from Dad; he taught me from Day One,” Beth said. “The restaurant was our first home; the house was our second home.”

Beth said her son, Mitchell, age 10, is already looking forward to the day when he can step up.

Shifting priorities

Becoming a grandfather shifted Butch Stella’s priorities a bit, Beth said.

“When I was young, the business came first; when I started having kids, he took time off to be with his grandkids.”

But make no mistake; the family restaurant was part of Stella’s life until the end, report his children.

Staying connected

Becoming ill was hard for him; not because of illness but because he wanted to stay active in the business, said Hondo.

“In the last week of his life he was writing checks to get ready for tax season,” Hondo said. “Two days before he died, his first question to me was, ‘How’s business?’ ”

Madrigrano said Stella was “the hardest working person I ever knew.”

But in the end, family always won out, said Hondo. “He told us that satisfaction was not from what you put in your pocket, but how you made your family happy.”