Betty Ruth Caplan
March 9, 2016

CAPLAN, BETTY RUTH; 88, died March 9 peacefully in her home in the Bronx. Betty Ruth was wife to the late Abe Caplan. A long term resident of Pittsburgh, she spent the last 6 years in New York close to her beloved Broadway.  Betty was embedded within Pittsburgh’s theatre world in the ‘60s to ‘90s. Betty was a lifelong writer and creative force in that community who wrote and produced plays, musicals and Purim spiels. Betty Caplan brought the first dinner theatre to Pittsburgh with productions at leading restaurants downtown.  Her crown jewel was to import “Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris!” which ran for six years at Walt Harpers’ Attic.  It was a Pittsburgh record for the longest single run of any show locally and for this show nationally. Equally accomplished as an educator, she taught English to high school students within the Pittsburgh public schools for 22 years, including class plays at Taylor Allderdice.  She is deeply loved and missed by her 4 children, Andrew, Marty, Eddie and Nancy, her 2 daughters-in-law Linda and Barbara, her son-in-law the late Ross Shapiro and her 6 grandchildren Sarah, Noah, Emily, Eric, Aiden and Emma. Services at Ralph Schugar Chapel, Inc., 5509 Centre Avenue, Shadyside on Sunday, March 13, 2016 at 11 AM. Visitation one hour prior to services (10 - 11 AM). Interment Adath Jeshurun Cemetery.  Contributions may be made to a charity of the donor's choice.

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My deepest sympathies , my thoughts and prayers are with you.