Master landscaper and former art teacher Robert C. Canepa of Provincetown died suddenly in his sleep at a friend’s home in Quincy on May 16, 2024. The cause has not been determined. He had undergone a medical hip procedure two days earlier. He was 73.
One of three sons of the late Alfred Canepa and Vincenza (Saetta) Canepa, Bob was born on March 12, 1951 in Brooklyn, N.Y. The family moved to Holtsville on Long Island when he was 10.
A bright child, Bob skipped fourth grade and showed artistic talent early on, according to his partner, Barry Murphy. He graduated from Holtsville High School in 1968 and earned a B.A. in arts education at SUNY New Paltz.
After college, Bob taught art in the Putnam County schools, working across the district. He enjoyed the work but longed for a sense of place. After 10 years of teaching, and after a summer vacation in Provincetown in 1981, he came out. Wanting to be closer to Provincetown, he moved to Boston in 1983.
During his teaching career, Bob had worked part-time as a bartender, and so he took up bartending in Boston before finding his second career in landscaping and home management.
Bob met Barry in 2006, and soon the two bought a small condo in Provincetown. They let go of Barry’s place in Boston in 2014 and sold the condo to buy a house in town. “Provincetown was his place,” Barry said. “He developed a close group of friends here.”
Bob did some landscaping work, and his own gardens were resplendent. Karen Edlund called Bob her “gardening buddy” in an online remembrance; in the same thread Mark Zinni wrote that when it came to Bob, “Everyone felt a wonderful connection, no pretense, no drama, just fun and love.”
He also loved to cook, keeping his family and friends well fed and happy. In their Boston years, he and Barry hosted weekly Wednesday night dinners for friends, often serving Italian sausages that he bought at a specialty shop on Long Island. “At the end of those evenings,” Barry said, “the recycling would overflow with wine bottles.”
Even though Bob had a wicked sense of humor and a sharp tongue, “no one could get mad at him,” Barry said. When Barry offered to cook, Bob would suggest that they go to a restaurant instead, “for the Irish can only boil,” he would say.
Bob was a dog lover. After his black Lab died in 2020, Barry found a rescue mutt “that people sometimes think is a coyote” to replace it. Though Barry fed the dog kibble, Bob was a cook for man and beast, serving up beef to the dog — a ritual Barry now continues in Bob’s honor.
Bob is survived by his partner, Barry Murphy of Provincetown; brothers Alfred Canepa of Williamsburg, Va. and Cliff Canepa of Portland, Ore.; and many cousins, nieces, and nephews. He leaves many friends who were like family to him.
A celebration of Bob’s life is being planned for June.
Donations in memory of Robert Canepa may be made to the Quincy Animal Shelter; online condolences can be left on the Keohane Funeral Home website.
