In Memoriam: Gary Y. Kaplan

Gary KaplanGary Y. Kaplan, 68, of Fair Haven, died Friday, 8/26/05 at Riverview Medical Center. Born in East Stroudsburg, PA, he was raised in Red Bank before moving to Fair Haven where he lived for 33 years. He graduated from Rumson-Fair Haven Regional High School and received a degree from the University of Michigan in Architecture in 1960. Mr. Gary Y. Kaplan was a member of Congregation B’nai Israel, a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects (FAIA), an Eagle Scout and a member of the Boy Scout Council. In 1969 he founded an architectural firm, now known as Kaplan Gaunt DeSantis of Red Bank. He enjoyed fishing, camping, rafting, woodworking and gardening.

For over thirty-five years, Gary worked as an architect in the Red Bank area. He was particularly sensitive to the built environment and how it affected the disabled community, and as a result he was dedicated to creating barrier free standards for organizations whose mission is to provide services to the disabled. As a professional activist, spirited collaborator, and entrepreneur, he led the profession beginning in the late sixties in developing barrier free standards with the New Jersey Easter Seal Society, when such standards were not commonly accepted. The standards developed with Gary’s assistance have become the model codes for many national standards.

Mr. Gary Kaplan became the President of the New Jersey Society of Architects in 1975. He later served on the committee for the Americans with Disability Act for NJ. He was the past Chairman of the NJ Easter Seals and served as Chairman of several National Easter Seal committees. Mr. Kaplan was also the President of the Architects’ Community Design Center in Newark, N.J., President of Pathways (an organization for rehabilitation of the mentally ill); and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Camp Merry Heart (a camp for handicapped children). Since 1968, he was a member of the N.J. State Sub Code Committee and participated in the development of the Barrier-free Design Standards for the State of N.J. In 1995 he was selected by Governor Christine Todd Whitman for the Governor’s Volunteer of the Year Award. In 1997, the N.J. Society of Architects named Gary Architect of the Year and in that year he became a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects. Mr. Kaplan also served on the Cultural Access Network since its inception in 1992

He was predeceased by his parents Ethel and David Kaplan in 1985. Surviving are his wife Gloria, of 46 years; daughter Michele Fine and husband David of Westfield, NJ; daughter Andrea Yanoff and husband Michael of Westwood, MA; and son Ross Kaplan and wife Susan of Birmingham, MI. Also surviving are his sister, Joan Leon and seven grandchildren; Adam, Ben, Derek, Danielle, Nicole, Perry and Aaron.

With the help of the American Institute of Architects New Jersey (AIA NJ) his wife, Gloria and the architecture firm of Kaplan Gaunt DeSantis, to commemorate Gary’s accomplishments, have created a scholarship fund for a talented architectural student who is a New Jersey resident, with special consideration given to one with disabilities. The AIA NJ has agreed to assume management of Mr. Kaplan’s fund through its 501-C3 tax-exempt non profit account program. Donations to the fund can be made by sending a check made payable to the Gary Kaplan Scholarship Fund and forward it to Kaplan Gaunt DeSantis Architects at: 241 Maple Avenue Red Bank, NJ 07701

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The Cultural Access Network is a co-sponsored project of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts / Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.