Edward L. Kaplan

Edward L Kaplan (Ed), Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota Medical School, 87, of Golden Valley, MN, passed away peacefully on Saturday, March 18th. Ed loved to travel and was fortunate to be able to travel extensively for his work in patient care, research and teaching at the University of Minnesota. He was a pediatric cardiologist and infectious diseases physician and Head of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Streptococci. He found great joy advising and mentoring numerous young physicians, and even greater joy regaling anyone who would listen with his many stories and tall tales. Ed grew up in Cleveland, Mississippi and attended preparatory school at The Webb School in Bell Buckle, Tennessee before attending the University of Rochester, NY. While at the U of R he met his wife of 63 years, Irene Colle Kaplan. After college, Ed went to medical school at Washington University, St. Louis. He completed his internship and residency in Seattle, Washington. He then served in the United States Public Health Service with a rank of Lieutenant Commander in Minneapolis until 1968. Returning to Seattle he completed a fellowship in pediatric cardiology. In 1970, Ed returned to Minneapolis taking a position in pediatric cardiology and pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Minnesota, where he remained for the rest of his long career. While working at the University, along with caring for patients, being the attending physician, presenting grand rounds, and mentoring hundreds of physicians, he was also Head of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Streptococci. He would do quarterly cardiology clinics at the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and weekly clinics at Hennepin County Medical Center. Ed was also a visiting professor at many universities around the world such as South Korea, Australia, Peru, New York, Germany, Switzerland, China, Philippines, Egypt and Mongolia. He was the president of the Minnesota Heart Association and a member of the Armed Forces Department of Defense Epidemiological Board. During his distinguished career he took two sabbaticals, one to Basel, Switzerland to study monoclonal antibodies at Ciba-Geigy. The second to Braunschweig, Germany to do research at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research. In 2015, Ed was the recipient of the Golden-Headed Cane Award, the award for outstanding pediatric physician. Ed retired from the University in 2013, but continued to work writing medical papers and chapters for medical books. He was preceded in death by his parents, Tobias and Mildred Kaplan; and his sister, Bettye Steinberg. He is survived by his loving wife, Irene; his children, Mark (Jennifer), Andrew (Karen), and Katianne (Joel); his grandchildren, Gabriel, Cassandra, Zoe, Katie, Benjamin, Daniel, Tobias and Maxwell. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Colle-Kaplan Endowed Scholarships at University of Rochester, NY, Washington University, St. Louis or The Webb School, Bell Buckle, Tennessee. A private service will be held, Friday, March 24th. Shiva will be Saturday evening, March 25th, 7 pm at the family residence. A celebration of life will be held this summer, 2023.