OBITUARIES
Loretta Kaplan
NEW YORK — Loretta Kaplan, 57, senior vice president and general merchandise manager of sportswear and juniors at Famous-Barr, St. Louis, died Friday at her home in St. Louis.
The cause of death was a heart attack, according to a spokeswoman at Famous-Barr.
Kaplan began her career as a buyer at May Department Stores Co.’s operations in Florida in 1965.
May Co. is Famous-Barr’s parent company.
In 1982, she was appointed senior vice president and general merchandise manager of cosmetics, accessories, ready-to-wear and intimate apparel.
She also served as senior vice president and general merchandise manager of ready-to-wear for May stores in Ohio.
Kaplan joined Famous-Barr as vice president and divisional merchandise manager of intimate apparel in 1993, and she assumed her recent post in 1994.
Surviving are her husband, Harvey, and a son, Lee.
Ruth Kane Shapiro
CHICAGO — Ruth Kane Shapiro, a longtime women’s apparel specialty retailer, died Sunday at her home here. She was 83.
Shapiro was founder and owner of Kane’s Ltd., a shop that specialized in designer fashions.
Shapiro opened Kane’s on Madison Street on Chicago’s West Side in 1940.
Kane’s offered designers from New York as well as many from Chicago. The store relocated in 1967 to 1325 North State Parkway, and Kane continued to operate the business personally until 1992, when she closed it and retired.
Survivors include a son, Michael; a daughter, Barbara Furst; a brother, Bernard Kane; a sister, Evelyn Kane, and two grandchildren, Brooke Allison Shapiro and Alexandra Morgan Furst.
Services will be held today at 10 a.m. at Piser-Weinstein Chapel in Skokie, Ill.
Melvin I. Schifter
NEW YORK — Melvin I. Schifter, 78, a founder and co-chairman of LeSportsac Inc., died Jan. 20 at his home in Southampton, N.Y.
The cause of death was heart disease, according to a company spokeswoman.
Schifter spent his entire working life in the apparel and accessories industry. In 1974, he and his wife, Sandra Stetson Schifter, founded LeSportsac, a brand known for its use of sailcloth nylon for handbags, small leather goods and luggage.
Schifter retired in 1991, but retained the title of co-chairman.
In addition to his wife, Schifter is survived by his son, Timothy Ware Schifter, who is president of LeSportsac; a daughter, Lisa Greenberg, and four grandchildren.