Ethyle Kaplan; parties aided N.E. Sinai Hospital
Ethyle W. Kaplan, a Newton philanthropist whose efforts with her late husband helped transform New England Sinai Hospital from a small sanatorium into a premier medical facility, loved throwing parties for charity.
Her soirees in the ballrooms of The Breakers in Palm Beach, Fla., and at the Palm Beach Country Club were legendary, relatives said.
"She loved parties, and she was very creative. She always had a theme, like a casino with showgirls they would hire to mingle in, or a night all about hats," said her granddaughter, Elizabeth Levine Rosenstadt of Mamaroneck, N.Y.
Mrs. Kaplan died Oct. 12 of natural causes in New York City at The Hallmark of Battery Park City, where she had lived for several years. She was 101.
Mrs. Kaplan and Archie Kaplan, who died in 1992 at age 93, lived in Newton for more than 50 years and dedicated much of their lives to charitable causes.
They contributed to Brandeis University scholarships and theater programs, the Jewish Guild for the Blind, the Scheppens Eye Research Institute at Harvard, the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and Combined Jewish Philanthropies.
Mr. Kaplan made his fortune in patent leather. He founded the Colonial Tanning Co. of Boston, which he served as treasurer. His company was one of the first in the nation to offer employee profit-sharing.
Mrs. Kaplan grew up in Toronto. A friend of her parents introduced her to Archie, who was born in Boston, while the families were vacationing in Miami. "They courted in a maroon convertible in Miami Beach," said their daughter Frances Kaplan Levine of New York City.
"She was a great lady in every sense of the word. She was a true partner with my dad. They traveled all over the world, and she helped him in every way," Levine said.
The Kaplans were married for more than 60 years.
Their contributions to New England Sinai of Stoughton were honored in 1986, when the hospital named its main building after them and engraved their names above the entryway.
The Kaplans first become involved with the hospital in the late 1960s. The facility had only 20 beds in Jamaica Plain. It was founded in 1927 in Rutland as the Jewish Tuberculosis Sanatorium.
Mr. Kaplan was president of the hospital board from 1974 to 1986, and was the "guiding force" behind the development of a 212-bed hospital and rehabilitation center in Stoughton in 1976, according to hospital officials.
From the late 1950s into the 1970s, Mrs. Kaplan hosted an annual luncheon attended by thousands of women at the Sheraton in Boston to fund New England Sinai.
"She was very supportive of her husband and very enthusiastic about everything she got into," said Richard Blankstein, chairman of hospital's board. "Even long after her husband had passed away, I would receive telephone calls from her asking about things going on at the hospital and offering suggestions."
Mrs. Kaplan also enjoyed painting and sculpting. In her 70s, she created a sculpture of her three grandchildren as youngsters and had it bronzed.
In addition to her daughter and granddaughter, Mrs. Kaplan leaves two grandsons and seven great-grandchildren.
Services have been held. 