Rita Goldstein Kaplan

Rita Goldstein Kaplan, formerly of Bloomfield, Connecticut, and most recently of Peabody, Massachusetts, died peacefully on Sunday, Feb 8, 2026 at the age of 101.

Born in Memmelsdorf, Germany, Rita's childhood was shaped by the escalating persecution of Jews under the Nazi regime. As a young girl, she experienced danger and dislocation. In 1939, after her family home was ransacked during Kristallnacht, fourteen-year-old Rita was placed alone on a Kindertransport to England to save her life. There she was welcomed by the Levys, a generous volunteer family who, despite sharing no common language, embraced her as their own and gave her a sense of safety and warmth she would remember with love for the rest of her life. After eight months in England—and now speaking English—she again traveled alone, crossing the Atlantic to reunite with her parents and brother, who had settled in New Britain, Connecticut.

In 1946, at a singles dance, she met the love of her life, Everett Kaplan, and they married the following year, sharing a devoted partnership for 64 years, until his death in 2012. Rita worked for more than twenty years at Emhart Corporation and took pride in her professional life, but her greatest joy came from her family. She was a loving wife, devoted mother, cherished grandmother, and grateful great-grandmother. Despite the hardships of her youth, she chose optimism over bitterness and forgiveness over resentment. Her spirit of gratitude and generosity defined her life.

Rita was predeceased by her beloved husband Everett; her parents, Alfred and Elisabeth Goldstein; and her brother Walter. She is survived by her daughter, Ruth Kaplan Cohen, and her husband, Larry, of Plymouth, Massachusetts; her son, Marshall Kaplan, and his wife, Margaret, of West Hartford, Connecticut; her granddaughters Tracy Orloff and her husband, Marc, of Marblehead, Massachusetts; Stephanie Curran and her husband, Scott, of Marblehead, Massachusetts; Pamela Liggett and her husband, Mark, of Louisville, Kentucky; and Elizabeth Allen of Washington, D.C.; her nine beloved great-grandchildren: Jack and Kate Curran; Grace and Alex Orloff; Jacob and Nathan Diaz; and Luke, Will, and Mia Liggett; and many nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, Feb11, 2026 at 11am, in the Emanuel Synagogue, 160 Mohegan Drive, West Hartford, CT, with Rabbi David Small officiating. Interment will follow at Beth Hillel Memorial Park at 80 Wolcott Rd, East Granby, CT. In lieu of flowers, donations in Rita's memory may be made to The Lappin Foundation (lappinfoundation.org), a Holocaust education organization to which Rita dedicated her energies, or to a charity of one's choosing.