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Sumner Z. Kaplan
Sumner Z. Kaplan
Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
	In office; 1954–1962
Succeeded by	Michael Dukakis
Probate and family court judge
	In office; 1983–1993
Nominated by	Edward J. King
Personal details
Born	February 3, 1920; Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	March 20, 2011 (aged 91); Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Army; United States Army Reserve
Years of service	1941–????
Rank	Brigadier General

Sumner Zalman Kaplan (February 3, 1920 – March 20, 2011) was an American soldier, politician, and judge. Kaplan served in the United States Army in World War II, and later continued to serve in the United States Army Reserve. Kaplan was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1954, and left after an unsuccessful run for the Massachusetts State Senate. Later serving in local elected offices in Brookline, Massachusetts, he was appointed as a judge in 1983, remaining in that position for ten years.

Early life, education, and military service

The youngest of three children, Kaplan was born in Roxbury, Boston on February 3, 1920, and grew up in Dorchester and Roxbury.^[2]^[3]^[1] He graduated high school at Boston Latin School, in 1939.^[1] Two years later he graduated from Massachusetts State College.^[1] During World War II, he served in the United States Army in the United States Corps of Engineers, eventually being promoted to the rank of colonel.^[1]

Following the war, Kaplan reverted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the United States Army Reserve and, in 1962, was serving in the role of chief of staff with the 94th Infantry Division.^[4] By 1971, he was promoted to brigadier general as he was assigned to become the deputy commanding general of 94th Army Reserve Command.^[a]^[6] In 1974, he authorized the usage of two armored personnel carriers of the 187th Infantry Brigade by John Wayne during his 1974 visit to Harvard Square.^[7]

During the War in 1944, he married Eleanor Fisher, whom he met when he was 16 and she was 15.^[1] After World War II he graduated from Harvard Law School, and practiced law.^[1] Eleanor would go on to be an elementary school teacher.^[8] In 1982, a daughter of theirs, who worked for Chase Manhattan Bank, was married to a Columbia University history professor.^[8]

Elected office, legislation, and judicial service

In 1954, Kaplan ran for the Massachusetts House of Representatives for Brookline, and won.^[1] While in office he advocated for legislation for rent control, opposed anti-communism legislation, and opposed the death penalty.^[1] Eight years later, he unsuccessfully ran for the Massachusetts State Senate, and his House of Representatives seat was filled by the election of Michael Dukakis.^[1] In 1962, Kaplan ran the unsuccessful senatorial campaign for Edward J. McCormack Jr.; for this he was not on good terms with Senator Ted Kennedy.^[9] He remained active in public office locally in Brookline, where he served in its town meeting and its select board.^[1]

In 1974, his writings on the Israeli Reserves were utilized in a journal article on cadre in reserve units.^[10] Kaplan was also a rabbi, officiating the wedding of the White House speech writer Richard N. Goodwin in 1975.^[11] Kaplan was involved in organizing for pro-Israel demonstrations in Boston;^[11] he would travel to Israel yearly after a partner of his law firm moved there.^[1] In 1983, he was appointed a probate and family court judge by Governor Edward J. King.^[1]

Later life and death

Later, Kaplan served as general counsel to Merkert Enterprises of Canton, Massachusetts.^[8] In 2004, a successful effort was made to have a park named for him in Brookline; it is located in a playground.^[12] He moved to Jamaica Plain in 2010.^[1] He died of heart failure and lymphoma on March 22, 2011, at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, at age 91, and was survived by five grandchildren, two daughters, and his wife of 66 years.^[1] Kaplan was interred at Sharon Memorial Park, Massachusetts.^[13]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r Marquard, Bryan (April 3, 2011). "Sumner Kaplan, 91, state legislator, judge, selectman". The Boston Globe. Retrieved December 26, 2023 – via archive.boston.com.
^ Vallance, Karla (March 23, 2011). "Brookline's Sumner Kaplan was Former State Representative". Patch.com. Brookline, Massachusetts. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
^ Hayden, Irving N.; Grove, Lawrence R. (1961). "Sumner Zalman Kaplan". Public Officers of Massachusetts 1961-62. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Retrieved December 27, 2023 – via Wikimedia Commons.
^ "A Division is Many Men". The Boston Globe. June 29, 1962. Retrieved January 4, 2024 – via newspaper.com. Gen Galvin surveys the maneuvers from a helicopter and the staff officers, Chief of Staff Lt Col Sumner Z. Kaplan of Brook-line, Lt Col Daniel J. Finn of the Back Bay, Lt Col James Chekos of Wakefield and Brig Gen Costas L. Karagnis of Dracut survey the troops on the ground.
^ "94th Training Division". United States Army Reserve. Retrieved January 4, 2024. The next significant event for the 94th Division occurred in 1967 when the Division was re-designated as the 94th Army Reserve Command (ARC), headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts.
^ Army Reserve Magazine. Chief, Army Reserve. 1971. p. 6-PA14. Retrieved January 4, 2024. Colonel Sumner Z. Kaplan has been assigned as Deputy CG, 94th ARCOM, Boston, Mass. He formerly held the mobilization designation position as Special Assistant to Dep Asst Secretary of Defense, Reserve Affairs.
^ Weiss, Philip (January 22, 1974). "Top Pentagon Officials Launch Investigation Of Army's Loan of Two Tanks to John Wayne". The Harvard Crimson. Harvard University. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Marjorie Kaplan Bride of Professor". The New York Times. New York, New York. November 8, 1982. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
^ Kusmer, Anna (May 9, 2023). "A Personal Reflection: The Year The Kennedys Trounced My Grandfather". GBH. Brighton, Boston, Massachusetts. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
^ Gans, Colonel Daniel (July 1974). "Improving Readiness: Active Army Support of Reserve Components". Military Review: Professional Journal of the United States Army. PB (United States. Army). Vol. LIV. Command and General Staff School. p. 89. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
^ ^a ^b Ivry, Benjamin (May 22, 2018). "Richard Goodwin, Speechwriter For LBJ, JFK and RFK, Dies At 86". The Jewish Daily Forward. The Forward Association, Inc. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
^ Reports of Selectmen and Advisory Committee (Report). Town of Brookline. November 16, 2004. p. 24-1. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
Brookline Conservation Commission (May 2011). Open Spaces 2010 (Report). Town of Brookline. p. 94. Retrieved January 4, 2024.
^ "Sumner Kaplan Obituary". The Boston Globe. March 24, 2011. Retrieved December 26, 2023 – via Legacy.com.

Notes

^ 94th Army Reserve Command was a re-designation of 94th Infantry Division.^[5]

External links

Bryan Marquard. "Judge Sumner Z. Kaplan". Brezniak Funeral Directors. The Boston Globe.
"Judge Sumner Z. Kaplan Memorial Lecture and Benefit". citzensforpublicschools.org. Boston: Citizens for Public Schools. 2012.
"Remembering Sumner Kaplan". Jewish Boston. Combined Jewish Philanthropies. March 31, 2011.