A former Hove councillor and health campaigner has died at the age of 86.
John Kapp, of Saxon Road, Hove, serve as a Conservative councillor in the 1990s, representing Stanford ward as Hove Borough Council merged to become Brighton and Hove Council.
By profession, he was an electrical engineer who moved to Hove from London to join Preece Cardew and Rider, in Brighton, in the 1960s.
In recent years, Mr Kapp has campaigned for the Brighton i360 to be used as a giant sundial, in addition to his tenacious advocacy for talking therapies, mindfulness and complementary medicine.
He hit the headlines when he was arrested for daubing “Vote Leave” on a Remain poster during the referendum campaign during which he supported Brexit – Britain’s exit from the European Union.
At 80, while perhaps not the oldest person to have been arrested by Sussex Police, he was among the least ashamed – and unabashed when it came to sharing the details and the press coverage.
Mr Kapp was a prolific and tireless campaigner, a member of various groups from Hove Civic Society and the West Pier Trust to the Fabians.
One of those who knew him said that he was “a good-hearted and public-spirited citizen, if often frustrated”.
He was an enthusiastic cyclist and sea swimmer and a keen sailor who gave up his spare time to help young offenders.
In the 1960s he set up a syndicate to buy the Marabu, an old German training yacht, built in the 1930s. As well as using it for family sailing holidays, he pressed it into service to help underprivileged children.
His talents stretched to music too. As a child he learnt the piano and as an adult he bought a clarinet from a junk shop and taught himself how to play it before switching to the bassoon.
His daughter Belinda said: “He managed to get all three of his children into music and we all played in the Brighton Youth Orchestra.”
Mr Kapp married his first wife Janet in 1963 and the couple had three daughters. Janet died of cancer in May 2000. Later, he married Phoebe Wyss, who survives him.
He is also survived by two of his three daughters, Annabel and Belinda. His youngest daughter, Sylvia, died aged 43 in 2013.
He had four grandchildren and four “step-grandchildren” by Phoebe’s two children.
Belinda said: “It’s been lovely seeing the messages coming in and realising how much he meant to so many people – and how many people he tried to help.
“We were aware of what we thought of as his obsessions. I fear he’s upset quite a lot of people because he wasn’t known for compromising.
“And it was part of his character that he had these strong ideas and passions … but he liked to steer the boat!”
In his later years, Mr Kapp campaigned for health chiefs to consider alternatives to pharmaceutical medicines, such as mindfulness and talking therapies.
He passionately believed that they were better than anti-depressants for treating some mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.
And in his final weeks, some of the leading experts in the field said that the evidence did not support the long-held belief that depression was caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain.
It was the widely shared belief in a serotonin imbalance that helped fuel the costly rise in “big pharma” prescriptions.
Mr Kapp set up and was involved in a health centre, in Church Road, Hove, opposite the town hall where, in the council chamber, he frequently lobbied councillors and health chiefs.
His own health failed as his “alternative” approach begins to look vindicated and increasingly likely to become more mainstream.
John Kapp, born on 17 November 1935, died at the Royal Sussex County Hospital on Wednesday 3 August 2022.
The family is holding a private funeral although there may be a memorial service at a later date.
So, farewell John Kapp – gone too soon after a life incredibly well lived. He packed a lot of living and thought into those 86 years. I remember him as a feisty contributor to civic debate & activism. Sayonara – time to rest, in peace.
I knew John Kapp when he lived off Shirley Drive shortly after his dear wife Janet died. I became involved in many of his campaigns particularly highlighting the dangers of prolific prescribing of chemical solutions to mental illnesses and depression. I attended several council and health committee meetings and witnessed his patience, persistence and tenacity, in the face of smoke and mirrors beaurocracy We were both interviewed by Latest TV. John set up constellation groups in Essence and sometimes in his home and others’ flats. His wisdom through dogged research produced clear evidence that many alternatives to current medicine achieve a better quality of life. RIP dear John. You will be so missed by so many.
RIP John. As chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board as well as Council Leader I appreciated your frequent challenge and scrutiny of the work of our local health and social care services. You were always clear, focussed and thoughtful in your contributions and questions. Everyone who does that helps. You helped.
I’d like to add my personal comments to these lovely tributes to my very dear friend, John Kapp.
I consider myself blessed to to have been great friends and in most (though not quite all) of his projects, a fellow collaborator with John for almost 40 years and I can honestly say that of all the thousands of people whom I’ve been priviledged to count as a part of my life, John has to rank as very near the top when it comes to living a life true to one’s principles.
In my life’s experiences, such people crop up all too occasionally and when they do, they should be treasured but sadly, as is often the way, they are vilified by their own political colleagues who fail to spot their genius and far-sightedness and instead wouldd sooner opt for short-term solutions or, rather than employ the brains that God gifted them, rely upon un-elected Council Officers to do all the thinking for them.
That charge could NEVER be levelled at John; although ever the rebel and never afraid to cross swords (often very publicly) with those of a different persuasion, he remained ever the gentleman and every inch the democrat and I cannot recall him falling out with anyone for any length of time (and that includes me, which is saying something!)
Had John received the backing of his Council coleagues in the 1980’s we would now have had, at Shoreham harbour, a combined heat and power station providing not only our electricity but also ALL the hot water for the entire City plus Fishersgate, Southwick, Kingston-by-Sea, Shoreham-by-Sea and East Worthing, not to mention free de-icing of every road under which the pipes ran—and totally fuelled by the refuse from all of those areas and beyond—light years ahead of it’s time.
And what have we now?
The incinerator in Newhaven which provides only a token amount of power and a gas-powered generator at Southwick who’s supplies of astronomically-priced fuel cannot even be relied upon given the current, parlous state of the world!
John also mooted the the idea of a de-salination plant at Shoreham Harbour as he was rightly concerned that as the populace increased we simply COULDN’T keep abstracting water from our rivers and the chalk aquifiers under the downs, both because it wasn’t sustainable and also the dangers it would pose to our wildlife and, guess what, the Councillors in Wish and South Portslade Wards of the old Hove Borough Council reacted in horror at that proposal too,with one of them stating, in the Council Chamber: “I don’t want any more nasty, dirty, smelly industry on MY doorstep!”
There was some consternation when I bellowed from the Public Gallery: “So WHO put a pistol to your head and forced you to buy a house in the industrial zone—was it because it was cheap?”
Added to all this, John was also involved in The Allies For Democracy, as was I, in the year 2000, an organisation encompassing people of all political persuasions and none, who came together under the banner of: “DON’T VOTE FOR AN ELECTED DICTATOR” in response to the B.Liar Government’s proposal for a Directly-Elected Mayor, with Then Council Leader Steve Bassam, who of course, had designs on being the first incumbent, leading the Yes Campaign.
Happily, the Allies won and as a result, the Committee system replaced the Cabinet system—DEMOCRACY at work!
Many years ago, John told me that he had been inspired by his Austrian grandfather, the business partner of his fellow Austrian, Magnus Volk of Volk’s railway fame, so I think we can see from whence came his genius.
Anyway, I could happily remenisce for hours about a life so busy and encompassing such a broad spectrum of interessts but I’ll sum-up with this:
Dear John Kapp,
A man of passion and principles;
A man of genius and yet humility;
a man of vision and hope;
A man not afraid to put his money where his mouth was;
A true democrat who, whilst fighting his corner, was respectful of everyone’s principles;
A tireless servant to his beloved, adopted city;
A loyal and supportive friend, no matter the differences—I’ve learned such a lot from you;
And finally, A MAN WHO WOULD NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER!
Bless you ,John, and R.I.P. until we meet again—WHICH WE WILL!
Much love,
Your friend always,
NIGEL.