Vending

Industry loses Charles Caplan

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July 27, 2022

Charles Caplan holds Brody Stewart, Karen LaForce's grandson, in his office.

Charles Caplan, a longtime vending and amusement industry salesperson, recently passed away following an illness, leaving many great memories among industry associates. He was 80 years old.

Caplan was still working as a sales manager for A&A Global Industries before being admitted to Advent Health in Altamonte Springs, Florida, where he passed away on July 20.

"He worked up to the very end," Karen LaForce, also an A&A Global Industries sales manager, who worked with Caplan for 22 years, told Vending Times. "Charles has been a dad to me the last 20 years. He's been a grandfather to my grandchildren."

Caplan worked at Birmingham Vending Co. Inc., a Birmingham, Alabama based vending and amusement equipment distributor, before joining A&A Global's Orlando-based Play Time Toys operation in 2000, LaForce recalled.

"He loved the industry," LaForce said. "It was his whole life."

Caplan is survived by his wife, Pearl ("Hollie"), his daughter, Shana, and a son-in-law.

Photo courtesy of Karen La Force.