Rhea Kaplan Obituary (1918

A memorial service and inurnment will be held in Columbus on July 8 at 1 p.m. at Forest Lawn Memorial Gardens – Temple Israel Section (on Taylor Station Rd. off Broad St.) for Rhea Ornstein Kaplan, 97, who died on March 26, 2016 in Bedford, MA. She was born and grew up in Columbus, and attended Columbus School for Girls and Wellesley College, in Wellesley, MA. She married J. Maynard Kaplan in 1941 and they lived in Salem, MA, moving to Columbus in 1951 with their two children, Jonathan and Marcie. During the 1950s and 1960s, Rhea was active in the Jewish community ¬ B'nai B'rith, the Jewish Center, the National Council for Jewish Women, Hadassah, Brandeis and Temple Israel, where she was a lifelong member. She was involved in theatre and acted at Player's Club, Playhouse on the Green, Stadium Theatre and Gallery Players. She helped stage Temple Israel's confirmation ceremony for several years when confirmation classes were large, comprising about 65 high school Freshmen. When her children were grown, she was a docent at the Columbus Museum of Art and traveled widely with her beloved Maynard. She was intellectually curious and adventurous, a lover of literature, opera and classical music, and brought her artistic eye, good taste, discerning judgment and whimsical sense of humor to home décor, gardening, cooking and conversation. After Maynard died in 2007, she moved to Bedford, MA to be near her daughter and granddaughter. She is survived by her children; daughter-in-law, Linda; and her three grandchildren, Jessica, Samantha and Chloe. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Rhea and Maynard Kaplan Founders Fund, Columbus Jewish Foundation, 1175 College Ave., Columbus, Ohio 43209.