HERBERT KAPLAN

1929 - 2018

KAPLAN--Herbert, MD.,

Born December 23, 1929, in the Bronx, to Morris and Sophie Kaplan, died peacefully at his home, Loomis Village, in South Hadley, MA, June 23, 2018. The cause was kidney failure after prostate cancer. Graduate of the U of Oklahoma (B.S, 1950) and Albany Medical College (M.D., 1955). After an internship/residency at Duke Medical Center and fellowship at Yale Medical Center he was Asst. Chief of the Medical Service, U.S. Army Hospital, in Munich, Germany, (1959-62) and moved with his family to Denver in 1963. He spent four decades in private practice as a rheumatologist, was a founding director of the Denver Arthritis Clinic, (with Walter Briney, M.D.), and was a Clinical Professor of Rheumatic Diseases at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, where he was awarded "Distinguished Clinical Professor of Medicine" in 1998. An active member of numerous medical societies, including the Arthritis Foundation and the American College of Rheumatology, where he served as President in 1993-1994 and received the ACR Presidential Gold Medal in 2012, the highest honor and lifetime achievement award in the specialty. Herb was the recipient of many awards and honors, authored more than 48 articles and book chapters, was an educator, mentor, and friend to countless colleagues, and a compassionate caregiver to his patients, for whom their quality of life was his utmost goal. A gifted photographer, Herb shared his passion for world travel and discovery with his wife of 67 years, Beatrice (Swire). Beloved father of: Laura Kaplan Benson (Leonard Benson), Janet Kaplan- Bucciarelli (Mark Bucciarelli), and Susan Kaplan Jacobs (Michael Jacobs). Brother of Eleanor Kaplan Klein and Burton Kaplan (Shirley), brother-in-law of Elaine Swire Fink (Stephen). Remembered with much love by grandchildren: John Shanley, Will Shanley (Rachel), Joy Shanley, Michelle Shanley, Brian Thomas Jacobs, Joshua Jacobs (Erika Kitzmiller), Sophie Kaplan- Bucciarelli, Jonas Kaplan- Bucciarelli, step-grandson Brett Babin (Vanessa Heckman), and four great- grandchildren: Drake Caleb Schall, Luke Kitzmiller Jacobs, Sylvia Rose Kitzmiller Jacobs, and Eva Soleil Shanley. A memorial celebration will be held on July 7, 2018, 1pm at Loomis Village, 20 Bayon Drive, South Hadley, MA. Donations may be made to the Lake George Association or the Cooley Dickinson VNA Hospice in Northampton, MA.