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Died January 29, 2021.
Bishop Brady High School, Concord, NH
Mathematics, Science, Lacrosse Coach
The Bishop Brady High School community in Concord is mourning the loss of one of their own. Jeff Kaplan was a beloved teacher and coach at the school.
Kaplan died over the weekend due to complications from COVID-19, he was 61, but his legacy lives on far beyond the halls of Bishop Brady.
A native New Yorker, it was a job at Plymouth State University that brought Kaplan to New Hampshire. There, he coached offensive and defensive line, which started a decades-long coaching and teaching career in the Granite State.
“it would make me incredibly proud to see my dad on the sideline,” Kaplan’s son Matt Kaplan said.
Matt Kaplan is one of Jeff’s eight children. He said he and his siblings did not mind sharing their father with the hundreds of students he coached over the years.
“I know how great of a parent Jeff Kaplan was, and for other kids to experience not only his knowledge but again, sort of his lessons and his ideologies behind how to do things,” Matt Kaplan said. “It makes you proud as a son.”
Kaplan coached for several schools including Bishop Brady, John Stark, Pembroke Academy and Franklin High School where he started the school’s wrestling program.
“I always admired having him on the side with me when we coached wrestling together,” Former colleague Cam Sinclair said. “Because my voice, when I yelled to get my wrestler’s attention, my voice would get high and squeaky, but Jeff had this huge booming voice. So, I would yell something, and he would repeat it, so they could hear it. So, we worked well together.”
A big guy, with a big voice, but also a big heart. Someone who understood his students and knew how to lead.
“He was this kind of guy that made the kids feel good about themselves,” Former colleague Craig Kozens said. “He was demanding and knowledgeable. Just a great-hearted guy.”