His role of \u201ccaptain\u201d of many Staten Island political campaigns included those of Judge Mike Brennan, former New York City Councilmember Ken Mitchell, former State Assemblymember Mike Cusick, Assemblymember Charles Fall, State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton, former Rep. Max Rose and McMahon.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was the hub through which all spokes ran, and to every person, every campaign worker, or volunteer with whom he connected, he was fiercely loyal,\u201d McMahon said. \u201cIf need be, he would run through a wall for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"John](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/YAIONJ2JENB4TBLRZXXJKJHP4E.jpeg\")
John Vitucci, right, known as “Captain,” among elected officials and court officers on Staten Island, is shown with Richmond County District Attorney Michael McMahon. (Courtesy of Michael McMahon)<\/p>\n
State Sen. Jessica Scarcella-Spanton said Vitucci was her biggest cheerleader and most loyal friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was a larger-than-life person, and we will miss him dearly,\u201d she said. \u201cHe\u2019s been there every step of my career; as I learned everyone\u2019s name and he gave me a little fun fact about each person who walked through a room, as I learned the ins and outs of what it meant to campaign as a young staffer and, of course, when I ran for office myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitchell, currently president of the Staten Island Zoo in West Brighton, said Vitucci supported and guided him for over 30 years during his work in government, the courts and the community. \u201cHe was a proud family man. John leaves an impossibly large void to fill, as he truly was one-of-a-kind and had a profound impact on his loved ones and community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Early life<\/p>\n
Born in Brooklyn, Vitucci moved to Grymes Hill in 1972 upon marrying Jacqueline (Jackie) Bergin. They were married 32 years.<\/p>\n
In addition to his service during the Vietnam War, Vitucci also served in the U.S. Army Reserve and the National Guard. <\/p>\n
In his free time, Vitucci coached his son in the Middle Island Little League for many years and also served as manager for the Susan Wagner High School junior varsity baseball team for several years in the 1990s. <\/p>\n
An avid New York Yankees fan, Vitucci took his son to every opening day from second grade through high school, his son recalled.<\/p>\n
He seemed happiest when surrounded by others, whether family, friends or people he had just met, his son said. <\/p>\n
That enthusiasm carried over to his grandchildren. When they were young, he drove their friends around and showed up for their activities, from soccer and flag football to swimming and baseball, he said. <\/p>\n
During games, he would chat with everyone around him. Strangers sometimes seemed to know his entire life story, his son said.<\/p>\n
He also served as president of his apartment co-op board on Bard Avenue and enjoyed becoming a \u201cmayor\u201d of sorts, Vitucci Jr. said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad just sort of pulled everyone into his universe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Attraction to politics<\/p>\n
Although Vitucci Jr. has worked in the court system as an attorney for 15 years, he said he had never been particularly involved in politics. His own campaign unexpectedly opened the door to that part of his father\u2019s life, allowing him to meet and spend time with people who had known his dad for years.<\/p>\n
He said his father\u2019s attraction to politics was never about prestige or popularity. What appealed to him was the service aspect of political life, particularly the opportunity to help people on Staten Island and work on campaigns. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not the grandiose stuff he enjoyed, \u201d his son said. \u201cIt was being in the trenches.\u201d <\/p>\n
In addition to his son, John Vitucci Jr., and his son\u2019s wife, Randie, Vitucci is survived by a daughter, Maureen Pateman and her husband, Mark; his brother, Robert; and three grandchildren, Liam Pateman, John Vitucci and Kaitlyn Vitucci.<\/p>\n
Visitation will be held at Harmon Funeral Home, 571 Forest Ave., West Brighton, on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2026, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.<\/p>\n
A funeral mass will take place at Blessed Sacrament R.C. Church, West Brighton, on Friday, Oct. 30, at 10 a.m. Interment will follow at Resurrection Cemetery, Pleasant Plains. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 Retired U.S. Army Capt. John William Vitucci, known widely as \u201cThe Captain,\u201d became the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-391056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}