Howard Kaplan

Howard “Haitch” Kaplan, 88, of Watertown, MA, passed away on March 3, 2026.

Haitch was predeceased by his brother and parents. He is survived by his wife, Susan Jones and her sons Gabriel and Andras her sons, his many Smullin in-laws and nieces and nephews and grand nieces and nephews and many, many friends from his youth in the Bronx, his adulthood in the Croton Colony and the California Bay Area, and his life in Cambridge that included the ownership of the Modern Times Café with his then-partner Wendy, his years teaching at UMass Lowell and his 38 years with his wife.

He graduated from NYCC in 1959, studied at the Iowa State University at Ames, Sonoma State, and UMass Amherst where he earned his PhD. He was a restauranteur, a teacher, a teacher of teachers, ….

He was interested in politics, music, nonfiction, biking, swimming, hanging out and people watching. His wife could take him almost anywhere and leave him alone and he would soon be engaged with whomever wandered by to chat. He was a magnet.

We thank Chrismary Buckman for the hours she spent with him over the last couple of years. I know she meant a lot to Howard.

A memorial will be held at Levine Chapels, 470 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA on Monday, March 9, 2026 at 11am and will be joinable via livestream at www.levinelive.com/howardkaplan

Shiva will be held in Howard & Susan's home in Watertown, following the memorial service.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Haitch’s memory can be made to: Doctors Without Borders at https://give.doctorswithoutborders.org World Kitchen at www.wck.org/donate Habitat for Humanity at www.habitat.org/donate ACLU at https://action.aclu.org/ Mass Peace Action at https://masspeaceaction.org/act/donate/ World Wildlife Fund at https://protect.worldwildlife.org/ Camp Kinderland at https://www.campkinderland.org/donate Boston Workers Circle at https://circleboston.org/make-a-donation/ or STEP www.STEP-GTP.org ; OR

1.) Let Cuba Live: Send Solar Generators and Panels to Cuban Hospitals. It's coordinated by the People's Forum and endorsed by a very wide range of organizations and individuals (including elected officials). https://www.letcubalive.info/

2.)Global Health Partners: https://ghpartners.org/ .They are one of the few organizations in the US with a license to send medicines and other health supplies to Cuba; they have been doing it for years. For instance, during the pandemic, they were the main organization sending syringes to Cuba. Other campaigns include raising funds to send pacemakers and surgical supplies (see the list on their website under "projects.").