Toby Kaplan

Toby was born and raised in the beautiful seaside community of Marblehead, MA, where she chose to raise her own family as well, and enjoyed many days at the beach or on a boat in the harbor. She was the youngest child of Ellis and Althea Russell, and sister to Stephen.

Toby was the devoted wife to the late Howard Kaplan and a loving and dedicated mother to Gregory Kaplan (and his wife Theresa) of Chatham, MA, Jodi Kaplan (and her fiancé Allan) of Merrimac, MA and Kimberly Margolis (and her husband David) of Wakefield, MA. She treasured her children and took an active role in their lives and their interests. Her most cherished role, however, was being Grammy to the lights of her life, her beloved grandchildren: Jeffrey, Jenna, Hailey, Kasey, Carter, Ethan and Aliza.

In her 78 years, Toby taught her friends and family many things. She taught us how to improvise when cooking, and that the best way to test if the spaghetti is done is to throw it against the cabinet to see if it sticks. She shared her unique perspective on life and her innate ability to "read" people through a series of infamous Toby-isms, exclaiming things such as, "if bullshit were music, he'd be a brass band." Never one to shy away from a bargain, even though she had a knack for picking out the $125 shoes on the clearance rack at Marshalls, she instilled in us the importance of investing in good underwear and using accessories to transform a look. Most importantly, Toby taught us how to handle adversity with grace and decorum, to focus on what you can do rather than what you can't, to live life out loud and to speak (and believe) with conviction.

Toby was a beautiful, charismatic, tenacious and energetic woman. Her zest for life and unending love and support will be painfully missed.

Due to regulation imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic, services will be private.

In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy may be made in Toby's name to the Alzheimer’s Association via www.alz.org.