Barbara Connally Kaplan

She was born in Dunson Hospital at the northwest corner of Church and Haralson streets in LaGrange on Sunday, August 19, 1923 at 11 AM, or as her Mother always proclaimed "as the church bells rang." Daughter of the late Pyron and Elizabeth Connally, she was christened in the Presbyterian Church on Christmas Sunday, 1923, and later moved with her parents to Tampa, Florida. She grew up there, attending Hillsborough High School where she was valedictorian of the 1940 graduating class.

Professor Emerita of Auburn University, her teaching responsibilities prior to the Auburn years included positions at Georgia State College for Women, the Hillsborough County Schools in Florida, the University of Texas at Austin, Saint Leo College, and guest professorships at the University of Washington, Tel Aviv University, and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga. At the University of Texas in 1966, she directed one of the first summer institutes under the 1965 Arts and Humanities legislation.

Dr. Kaplan received the Bachelor of Arts degree in French with a Performing Certificate in Voice from Agnes Scott College, a Master of Arts in Music Literature and Voice from the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester, a second Master of Arts in Library Science from the University of South Florida, and the Ph.D. in Music Education from Florida State University. In Hungary, she studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music under the auspices of an IREX grant. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, Pi Kappa Lambda, Delta Omicron and Alpha Psi Omega, she was also honored for her outstanding teaching in the College of Education at Auburn University. In 1962, she was the recipient of a P.E.O. scholarship during her doctoral study, and in 1967 she was awarded the Berneta Minkwitz International Fellowship by Delta Kappa Gamma for studies in French music education. Her performance experience included several seasons with the Chautauqua Opera Company in New York, roles with the Tampa Lyric Theater and appearances in oratorio and concert in many parts of the United States, as well as extensive work with children’s choirs.

As an active member of the Board of the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra from 1993 to 2005, she wrote program notes for the orchestra’s performances, organized the annual Young Artists' and SCALA Competitions and chaired the Youth Competitions Committee. In July 2005, she was honored with emeritus membership for distinguished service on the Symphony Board. She served several terms as a member of the Board of Directors of the Organization of American Kodály Educators and as a member of the Editorial Board of the Kodály Envoy. Before her years as Editor of the Envoy (1986-1991), Dr. Kaplan edited the 1985 Kodály Bibliography published by OAKE, served as a member of the Editorial Board of the Music Educators Journal, as coauthor of the American Book Company’s New Dimensions in Music textbook series and also as coauthor of Harp Album: Repertoire Primer. She contributed articles to various journals and periodicals in music and music education as well as chapters for Reflections on Kodály, Music Education in the United States, An Intellectual Freedom Primer, and other books. A life member of the Music Educators National Conference, she was president of the Alabama Elementary Music Educators Association and a member of the board of AMEA, organizing and presenting numerous workshops there and in other states. In Florida, she served as President of Chi Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, and in LaGrange she was active in the Beta Mu chapter of that organization and in the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, acting as Vice-Regent of the LaGrange Chapter. She also sang in the chancel choir and participated in the Presbyterian Women’s organization of First Presbyterian Church.

She is survived by a son, Philip Connally Rogers of Decatur; a daughter and son-in-law, Charlotte and Mark Stock of Reno, Nevada; a granddaughter, Heather La Fleur and her husband, Steve, of Decatur, Georgia; two stepdaughters, Teresa Abrahams, of Tampa, Florida, and Marcia Rudin of Sanibel, Florida and New York City, daughters of Dr. Kaplan’s late husband, Dr. Max Kaplan, and their families; and several cousins including Eunice Connally Carr of LaGrange; Virginia Nieland of Charleston, South Carolina; and Carole Biggs of Laurinburg, North Carolina.

The memorial service will be at First Presbyterian Church at 2:00 PM on Monday, August 26, 2019, and the family will receive visitors one hour before, at 1:00 PM, in the same location. Interment following the service will be at the family cemetery at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Mount Carmel Road, Gay, Georgia, Meriwether County.

Memorial tributes may be made to the Render Pyron and Elizabeth Potter Connally Memorial Fund at Agnes Scott College, or to the Connally-Kaplan Endowment Fund of the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra.

The family extends a heartfelt thanks for the love and support from her many dear friends, both lifelong and recent, and family members whom she so cherished.