Theda Ann Caplan

Theda Ann (“Tac”) Caplan was born in Springfield, Missouri, on October 1, 1923, to Nathan Karchmer and Esther Shana Milner Karchmer, and died on February 13, 2021, in Rockville, Maryland. Her paternal grandfather, Benjamin Karchmer, was a founder of the Jewish Congregation in Springfield. Tac and her husband Jerome A. Caplan, served that Congregation for decades. 

Tac was raised in Springfield and educated in Springfield public schools. She began her undergraduate work at the University of Oklahoma, but after meeting and marrying her husband, she returned to Springfield when he went overseas during World War II. She received her undergraduate degree from what was then called Southwest Missouri State College, with a double major in French and English literature.

After raising her children, Paula and Bruce, she began graduate school in 1969, obtaining a Master’s in Guidance and Counseling from Missouri State University. Tac became a psychologist with a unique and stunningly effective approach to working with people. In her practice over the years, she did much to encourage strength and assertiveness in girls and women especially. Some of those with whom she worked with say to this day that she changed their lives for the better.

Tac served on the Human Rights Commission in Springfield. She worked as an unofficial volunteer for the Family Violence Center for many years, soliciting donations of goods and funds from area businesses. She was a member of the Board of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks and subsequently worked diligently as a grant reviewer. As a member of the Board of the Springfield Art Museum and a docent there, she learned sign language so that she could take people with hearing impairments on museum tours. As members of the Board of the Hammonds Center for the Performing Arts, she and her husband took a special interest in helping to bring in people like Lily Tomlin because of her feminist perspective and the Alvin Ailey Dance Troupe in part because of its strong, Black dancers.

The Jerry and Tac Caplan Midlife Initiative Fund of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks was created to honor her and her husband, who died in 2009. The award is for people who are trying to make changes for the better in what have been difficult lives.

Tac was involved in other feminist and anti-racist actions, and she said her and her husband’s religion was philanthropy. She was an avid reader, who loved theater, concerts, opera and dance. She had a hilarious, often irreverent sense of humor and a remarkable capacity to draw people out and listen respectfully to their opinions, as well as an interest in everything and everyone.

She is survived by her daughter Paula J. Caplan (Rockville, MD) and her son Bruce M. Caplan (wife Judith Shechter, Narberth, PA); her grandchildren, Jeremy B. Caplan (wife Esther Fujiwara, Edmonton, AB, Canada), Emily J. Caplan Stephenson (husband Jamaal Stephenson, Rockville, MD), Lindsay A. Caplan (husband Jonah Westerman, Guilford, CT), and Adam J. Caplan (wife Renata Mendoza, Silver Spring, MD); and her seven great-grandchildren, June Anna Caplan Fujiwara, Joel Rémy Caplan Fujiwara, Noah Alexander Stephenson, Gabrielle Simone Stephenson, Julian Myles Stephenson, Eva Sophia Westerman, and Mateo Addison Caplan.

Gratitude to Anna Banda and Leonie Barber-Peterkin for their loving care of Tac.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, earmarked for the Jerry and Tac Caplan Midlife Initiative Fund. https://4agc.com/donation_pages/4b30246a-6746-4fff-b0ff-b71f5496e37c

Zoom Memorial Service: April 11, 2021 3:30 PM

Zoom Link: 

https://alliant.zoom.us/j/92097765464?pwd=VzZGZld6R25CQnorNzd2VzZXODJuQT09

Meeting ID: 920 9776 5464
Passcode: 912637

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