Arthur H. Kaplansky

Arthur H. Kaplansky, age 92, of Moreland Hills, Ohio, passed away peacefully at his home on April 3, 2024.

Born Arthur Hillel Kaplansky on October 27, 1931 in Lorain, Ohio, Art attended and graduated from The Ohio State University with a degree in Business. Art was a member of and past president of the Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity at Ohio State where he distinguished himself in various campus activities and honoraries. It was at Ohio State that he met and married his life partner, Jackie (nee Bunowitz), his wife of 63 years. They soon settled in Cleveland, Ohio where they raised their three children, engaged in an array of philanthropic pursuits, and where Art embarked on a very successful career as the owner and CEO of Welker McKee Supply Company, a wholesale plumbing and heating supplier.

Arthur was broadly regarded by business partners, colleagues, and employees alike as an ethical, egalitarian, and thoughtful leader well ahead of his time. While he built and sold a highly successful enterprise from the ground up, Art was equally admired for his innate sense of fairness and employee appreciation. Inclusion and Diversity was already part of Art’s lexicon.

With the onset of the Korean war, Arthur answered his country’s calling and joined the Air Force, where he rose to the rank of First Lieutenant. Although he enjoyed regaling his children, nieces, and nephews with his exploits as an F-86 Sabre jet pilot dueling with MIGs over the Korean peninsula, the truth is - he served as a military police agent in country. Art’s version of his service was more fun.

In his later years, Art devoted himself to family, an array of philanthropic causes, and volunteer activities. In partnership with and support of his wife, Jackie, Art helped found and manage Valley Save-a-Pet, to rescue and find homes for abandoned and/or neglected animals. Art also committed himself to providing pro bono consulting services as a volunteer with SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives). Perhaps most impactful though was his role as the family’s sole surviving patriarch, bringing together and re-connecting all his extended family members. Art also discovered a passion for bicycling in his retirement years, often taking bicycle trips with the boys, and cycling upwards of 70 miles on a single run.

Arthur was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Jackie, their daughter, Jody and his siblings, Mike Kaplan, Phil Kaplansky, Geraldine Gilman, and Harriet Kaplansky. As the remaining patriarch of the Kaplansky, Gilman, and Popik families, he is survived by his loving children, Robert Kaplansky and Dori Kaplansky; cherished grandchildren, Robert Kaplansky, Zachary Popik, Jeremy Popik, Joshua Popik, Leigh Ann Popik, and Alyson Kaplansky; dearest great-grandchild Coraline Kaplansky; and his loving companion, JoAnn Millman. His family will always cherish their memories of him, the laughs and joy he brought to their lives, and the examples and lessons he set for them. He will be missed.

Services will be held on Sunday, April 7, 2024, at 1:00 PM at Anshe Chesed-Fairmount Temple, 23737 Fairmount Blvd, Beachwood, OH 44122.

Services will be Livestreamed on the Anshe Chesed-Fairmount Temple website (www.fairmounttemple.org/worship/live-stream/).

Interment will follow at Mayfield Cemetery, 2749 Mayfield Rd, Cleveland Heights, OH 44106.

The family will receive friends immediately following interment at Point East Condominiums (Community Social Room) 27500 Cedar Rd, Beachwood OH 44122 on Sunday only until 8:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to Valley Save-a-Pet, P.O. Box 39221, Solon, OH 44139 or Autism Speaks at www.autismspeaks.org/donate