Erica Napoli

Erica Napoli, 77, of Town of Cross Plains, Wisconsin, passed away at Agrace Hospice in Fitchburg on June 8th from Lewy body dementia.

Erica (a.k.a. Ricki) was born in 1949 in Knoxville, Tennessee. She spent her younger years mostly in Catonsville, Maryland (a streetcar suburb of Baltimore), and her teenage years in Poughkeepsie, New York. She attended nursing school at Russell Sage College in Troy, New York.

She worked as a registered nurse in New York City; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and, for many years, at the inpatient psychiatric unit of Meriter Hospital (previously Methodist Hospital) in Madison. As a psychiatric nurse, she gave her patients loving care and an empathetic ear. She was a strong advocate for nurses and the nursing profession. She once, as charge nurse, made a psychiatrist cry when she firmly scolded him for being verbally abusive to one of the other nurses.

Erica was loving, witty, quick-minded, curious, and sometimes sharp-tongued. She was not one to suffer fools gladly, including—perhaps especially—her second husband (for 41 years), Marty Drapkin.

She was a fierce animal rights activist, and, along with Marty, gave a loving and safe home to many rescue dogs and cats over the years. She was also a birder, and loved going on bird-watching trips, especially to Florida and Texas. She favored expensive binoculars with Zeiss lenses. She especially loved bluebirds, and every year enjoyed watching a bluebird pair build their nest and raise their youngsters. She insisted on feeding them high-quality mealworms. However, she was decidedly intolerant of English sparrows (a.k.a. house sparrows) because they were mean to the bluebirds.

Erica’s roots were English, Irish and Scottish, despite her romantic Italian surname, which she kept after her divorce from her first husband. She said that the surname was the best thing she got out of that marriage. Ricki loved Irish music, especially the Chieftains and the Clancy Brothers. She knew all the words to “I’ll Tell Me Ma” and was known to croon a decent rendition of “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen.” She loved “Danny Boy,” but usually grimaced when her tone-deaf husband sang it to her.

Ricki had many health problems over the years, including breast cancer and chronic pain, but usually bore her burdens with grace and optimism.

Erica is survived by her husband, Marty Drapkin; her stepdaughter, Jennifer Trygstad, and her family in Seattle, Washington; her Pennsylvania cousins Marilyn Amadoro, Lisa Bobinchock and Sharon Prebich and their families; dear friends and former colleagues, including Diana Dorfman and Monica Sitter and others; and loyal Edgar, a blue heeler / Australian shepherd mix. She was preceded in death by her parents, John and June Odle; her grandparents, including her much-beloved maternal grandmother, Lizzy Malone; her also-beloved aunts, Lois Barrett and Janice Totsky; and her dear friend Louise Petersen.

No service or celebration of life is planned at this time.

Donations in Erica’s name may be made to brownpawsrescue.com