After a near-fatal experience with hyperthyroidism as a young man, Elmer Kaplan decided to embrace each day to its fullest. “He liked good wine, good people, loved the opera, was a patron of the arts, liked eating well, driving too fast, playing tennis and fishing” his son Matthew said. “He didn’t like to waste time.” Mr. Kaplan, 87, of Northbrook, retired executive vice president of the former Briskin Manufacturing Co., died of congestive heart failure Friday, Feb. 13, in Highland Park Hospital. He met his wife, Alice Briskin, when the two were teenagers. The couple married in 1941, the same year Mr. Kaplan tried to enlist in the Army. He failed the physical exam, though, after the military discovered he had thyroid disease. After having his thyroid removed, he and his wife moved to Washington, where he worked in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. He earned a degree in accounting from George Washington University in 1942, his son said. After the war, he joined his father-in-law’s Chicago metal-stamping business, Briskin Manufacturing Co. When his father-in law died in 1959, he took over the company and its day-to-day management until it closed in 2000. His wife died in 2003, and his son David died in 1998. Survivors include another son, Stuart; and five grandchildren. A private memorial has been held.
