Rachela Jane Kaplan

In the ruins of Munich, Germany, in July 1946, the woman who would bear the name Rachela Jane Kaplan was born to Auschwitz survivors who gave her up for adoption in hope that she might find a better life. Blessedly, a U.S. army engineer helping rebuild municipal infrastructure and his wife, American Jews whose families had come through Ellis Island, rescued her as an infant from her dilapidated orphanage and brought her home to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and then briefly to the Bronx, and then for the rest of her upbringing to new construction in Paramus, New Jersey.

A lifelong fan of Elvis Presley dating back to his first appearance on the Ed Sullivan show, as a high schooler Jane would take the bus to Manhattan’s West Village to see musicians like Bob Dylan and Richie Havens perform. She was not an artist, but she had an artistic disposition and was passionate about surrounding herself with beauty. Wherever she lived always looked like an art gallery, with exquisite gardens outside. Other than her friends and family, nothing was more important to her than creating a beautiful setting.

After living on St. Marks Place in Manhattan for a spell, Jane studied sociology at the University of Virginia and then moved to St. Louis to get her master’s degree at the Washington University school of social work. After a brief period as a caseworker, in the late 1970s she went into private practice as a talk therapist and was successful from the beginning; she had a true gift for listening and helping people process their challenges in life. She spent a decade married to a fellow social worker, the late Raymond Adams, and bore two sons, Michael and Jesse Adams. Jane and Ray divorced amicably in the early 1990s and shared joint custody.

Frustrated with health insurers putting profits ahead of clients’ wellbeing, Jane retired in the early 2000s and devoted her time to building up her garden and obsessively tracking real estate listings on her iPad. She also served as editor and patron of her son Jesse’s public interest web magazine, The Ivy Exile. Until illness consumed her this past year, Jane was vivacious, feisty, and the most loyal and loving friend that anyone could ever ask for. The world is richer for her having lived here, and poorer now in her absence. Her memory is a blessing.

One of Jane’s preferred causes was Wounded Warrior Project (support.woundedwarriorproject.org). Please consider making a contribution in her honor.