Esther M Caduto

Esther Martone Caduto died peacefully on Tuesday, December 16, 2025. Born in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, on March 14, 1930, to Salvatore and Elvira Camozzi Martone, she was the fourth daughter and last surviving child among her two brothers and three sisters: Luigi (Louie), Victoria (Vickie), Jovanna (Jennie), Georgetta (Geeg) and Antonio (Tony). A devoted and beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, aunt, and great-aunt, Esther was predeceased by husband Ralph Caduto, Jr., and eldest daughter, Linda Ann Caduto.

Esther grew up on a subsistence farm in Pennsylvania, lacking electricity or running water. Farm work and discipline in their one-room schoolhouse instilled a work ethic that she applied, with a keen intelligence, to every challenge and opportunity life presented. Drawing on her legendary green thumb, love of plants, and knowledge of botany, Esther spent her spare time growing ornamental and vegetable gardens, all while raising four children, working full-time, and advancing her college education.

Esther’s family moved to Providence, Rhode Island, in 1943, where she attended Kenyon Street School. At the age of seventeen Esther worked at the Providence Public Library, where she met lifelong friend Camille (Jackvony) Caccia, and husband-to-be Ralph Caduto, Jr. In 1947, her father, Salvatore, died of lung cancer; a transformative experience that inspired her lifelong pursuit of healthful living and healing for others.

In 1949 Esther graduated from Mount Pleasant High School and attended the Rhode Island School of Nursing, with affiliations at Lying In Hospital (now Women & Infants Hospital) and the Psychiatric Hospital. Upon graduating as a Registered Nurse in 1952, she worked as a Charge Nurse in the Surgical Unit at Rhode Island Hospital, and (1953-1955) as Staff and Charge Nurse on the Psychiatric and Post-Polio Unit at the Charles V. Chapin Hospital.

Esther and Ralph were married on April 11, 1953, beginning a lifelong love and devotion. For their honeymoon, they visited Esther’s birthplace in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania. Ralph looked around and said, “It’s a good thing you moved to Providence. I never would have found you here.”

Ralph and Esther spent their early marriage raising a family in Providence, RI, before moving to a new house in Warwick in 1962. Esther worked at nearby Kent County Memorial Hospital as a Nurse Manager on the med-surg unit and became the first Nurse Manager for the hospital’s new Orthopedic Unit. Here she trained nurses in ground-breaking protocols for orthopedics, created a video for patient education on orthopedic surgery, and wrote a paper, “Teaching Orthopedic Patients, Neurovascular Assessment.”

In 1980—after years of night-school courses at The University of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and St. Joseph’s College in Maine—Esther realized a lifelong goal by earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Administration. She conducted post-grad studies at Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island.

In 1976 Esther and Ralph built a new house in Smithfield, RI. Their daughter, Maryjane, and husband Louis, moved with them. As Esther and Ralph aged, Maryjane and Louis’s assistance and support grew into a devotion of caring for Esther and Ralph’s health for the remainder of their lives. As passionate Master Gardeners, Esther and Ralph nurtured the gardens at the Smithfield Senior Center and at a nearby Veterans Memorial. They loved serving as judges at local high school science fairs.

Esther’s accomplishments are published in Who’s Who of American Women and Who’s Who in American Education. In 1988, she was elected to Who's Who of Registered Nurses. In 1991 she was asked to represent the United States in a citizen ambassador program, People-to-People—a professional exchange created in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Ralph accompanied her on the 10-day journey to Budapest, Prague and Russia, where Esther presented a paper, “Cell Saver Techniques in Orthopedic Surgery.” They loved visiting new places, traveling throughout the United States, Europe and Hawaii. Esther retired from Kent County Hospital in 1993.

During their 28 years in Smithfield, Esther and Ralph enjoyed winters as Florida “snowbirds,” eventually building a house in Palm Coast to live full-time. There, they volunteered for the Flagler Hospital, First Friday in Flagler Beach, Italian American Club of St. Augustine, Elks Club, and numerous community gardening projects.

Esther is survived by children Michael John Caduto and wife Marie, Nancy Jean Hagerty and husband James, and Maryjane Caduto Jordan and husband Louis; grandchildren Kathleen (Hagerty) Piranio, Laura (Hagerty) Sapanara, and James Hagerty; and great grandchildren Nathaniel and Hunter Sapanara, Mackenzie Piranio (and angel Kara), and Emma Hagerty.

Visitation will be from 9:00-10:00 am on Monday, January 5, 2026, at the Volusia Memorial Funeral Home (548 North Nova Road, Ormond Beach, FL, 32174), with a memorial service at 10:00 am.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Esther’s honor/memory to the Flagler Humane Society: https://flaglerhumanesociety.org/