Jeffrey Capra

1968 - 2025

Jeffrey ("Jeff") E. Capra was born to Edward A. and Mary D. Capra in Rochester, New York. The second of two children, he spent most of his childhood years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When Jeff was 14 years old, the family relocated to Cheyenne, Wyoming to pursue a dream of living and skiing in the wide-open spaces of the West. Jeff graduated from Cheyenne Central High School in 1986. Jeff attended Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., and received a bachelor's degree in 1990, in Industrial and Labor Relations. Jeff made many lifelong friends at Cornell where he was a brother in the Psi Upsilon fraternity.
Jeff began his professional career in human resources at Ingersoll Rand. He met Laura Britt, an aspiring architect and designer, in Colorado Springs. Jeff and Laura relocated to Austin, Texas and were married in 1997. Jeff and Laura were blessed to move to a city abundant with extended family. Jeff joined Motorola (now Freescale Semiconductor) in 1997, while Laura founded and grew her design firm, Britt Design Group (BDG).
Jeff and Laura's son, Ethan, was born in Austin in 2006. At this point, with a shift in his priorities, Jeff made a life decision to pursue a dream of becoming a high school teacher which led to him joining Griffin School to teach AP U.S. History in 2008. In 2014, he earned his Masters Degree in European History from Texas State University.
Jeff left an indelible mark on the Griffin School and on so many students, parents and colleagues that his work and presence touched. Many students attribute their success in college to his teaching, and in particular, to his ability to teach them to write.
In August of 2018, Jeff joined his wife's rapidly growing and successful design firm, Britt Design Group, as Director of HR and Operations. He continued to teach at Griffin School until moving to BDG full-time in 2021. Jeff positively influenced the culture and employee morale at BDG, creating a firm where many designers aspire to belong to this special team. He had the unique knack for seeing just about any situation from everyone's perspective and offering a steady hand and heart toward the best outcome for all.
Jeff's love of cycling led him to many bike trips and races in the Texas Hill Country, across the country and even to France, where he celebrated his 50th birthday by riding in the Pyrenees Mountains with dear friends.
Jeff's love of history never subsided. Books most of us wouldn't be brave enough to crack open were his typical reading material. Whether it was historical references on Christianity, American history or beyond - Jeff loved learning and connecting those lessons with current events.
His love of travel was passed to his son, Ethan, who began traveling with his family when he was young. Ethan, Jeff and Laura enjoyed many trips across the US to attend Ethan's competitive fencing tournaments. This travel afforded Jeff and Ethan invaluable time together to bond, quiz each other on music genres, share day to day life, as well as, broader ideas. Subsequently, Jeff volunteered as a Board Member for the Austin Fencers Club and offered his experience focused on organizational operations and equity to further improve the successful fencing club.
One of the last family trips was to London and Edinburgh, where soccer was a main focus of the trip with close family friends. Austin FC was his local team and from afar, he loved watching Leeds. Thankfully Jeff was also able to visit Vassar and see Ethan fence one last time.
At the age of 50, Jeff was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic, progressive lung disease for which there is no known cure. He was subsequently diagnosed with short telomere syndrome, which refers to a group of rare, inherited or acquired disorders caused by abnormally short telomeres. Jeff and Laura approached his condition with courage, grace, and conviction. They proactively sought knowledge and treatment that would extend his life. He received a double lung transplant in December 2023, which extended his life for almost two years and allowed him to see his son graduate from high school and start his college education at Vassar College.
Jeff's even-keeled attitude and ability to put others at ease with a joke or a laugh continued in the last six weeks of his life as he received many of his long time friends and family. He never stopped creating "quality family time". He sprinted to the finish line of this life and passed peacefully at his home, surrounded by love.
Jeff is preceded in death by his father, Edward A. Capra, aunt, Cathy Capra Butler, uncle, Richard Capra, uncle, Carl Capra, and uncle, Walter Deitrich and his grandparents.
Jeff is survived by his wife, Laura Britt and son, Ethan Capra, both of Austin, Texas; his mother, Mary D. Capra of Greeley, Colorado, his sister Beth Capra and her wife June Dirstine and their children, Tia, Rae and Shane, all of Denver, Colorado, his aunt, Linda Bruno and her husband Nick Bruno, of Amite, Louisiana, his mother-in-law, Sarah Harkins of Austin, Texas, first cousins and their families - Adam Butler, Marty Butler, Bridget Liddy, Lauren Butler, Bill Butler, all of Austin Texas, Victoria James of Ponchatoula, Louisiana, Christina McLaughlin, of Middletown, Delaware, Tim Capra, of Syracuse, New York, Darren Capra, Brandon Capra and Tony Capra of upstate New York, and David Deitrich of Villa Park, Illinois.
The family would like to give profound thanks to the amazing doctors in Houston at Baylor St. Luke's, including Dr. Garcha, Dr. Li, Dr. Mankidy, as well as Dr. Hayden and Dr. Taylor at Ascension Seton in Austin, Dr. Wu and nurses Flo and Mo at Hospice Austin, as well as Austin Palliative Care and Heavenly Care. Special thanks to the wonderful coordinators, additional doctors and support team who encouraged and supported Jeff throughout this challenging journey.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation or Team Telomere. The Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation is an organization dedicated to researching the cause of PF and the development of treatment options for patients, www.pulmonaryfibrosis.org. The mission of Team Telomere is to empower individuals worldwide impacted by Telomere Biology Disorders with information and support services, to advance improved diagnosis through education and advocacy, and to accelerate the medical and scientific community's research in finding causes, effective treatments, and a path towards a cure. teamtelomere.org.
A Reflection and Remembrance service honoring Jeff's life will take place at Griffin School on Sunday, October 19th, beginning at 11 a.m. Central time. The service will be livestreamed at https://www.brittdesigngroup.com/remembering-jeff.