Laka Benjamin (his 70th birthday)
Little is know about Laka. It is
known she immigrated seperately from her brothers and sisters. She was
married to a Nathan Kaplan, who was born on July 15, 1889. He was a
self-employed tailor and the family lived at 1651 or 1653 S. Orbsomey Road
in South Philadelphia. Nathan and Laka had three children: Sam, Bill and
Reba Kaplan. Nathan died around 1920, right before Bill was born.
The Kaplan boys were abandoned by their
mother while youths. The boys were raised by their grandparents, Jacob and
Ida Kaplan, who who lived at 1612 S. 7th St. Meanwhile, Laka went off and
married a man by the last name Kolinsky and had two children with him.
They had at least a couple of children together before he died and Laka
remarried to a Cohen, who was a massage specialist. She died sometime
around 1978.
Sam Kaplan was born on July 21, 1914 and was abandoned by his mother. He did become successful as a grocer. As a young boy her worked at a grocery store at 218 S. 60th street. After the war, he became part-owner of a grocery store at 3rd and Snyder named Phil and Sam's.
Bill Kaplan worked for the government for over 35 years. He was also employed by Paul Bros. Auto Body between the years of 1937-1940 as an upholstery man. He recalls how he used to ride his bike from 1612 S. 7th St to 4800 Chestnut Street in all kinds of weather conditions to save the fifteen cent bus fare. He still continues to work today as an interior decorator.