The following obituary appeared in the Chicago Tribune on August 7, 2003:

While flying to an Aspen, Colo., vacation, another passenger insisted on buying the intricate beaded bag that Carol Small Kaplan was crafting out of thousands of tiny seed beads. "People literally just bought them off her neck," said her husband, Howard. "They would actually see them and want them." The necklace bags ranged in price from $600 to $1,200. Mrs. Kaplan, 51, died of complications from lung cancer Sunday, Aug. 3, in her Highland Park home. Mrs. Kaplan, a Chicago native who grew up in Rogers Park before moving with her family to Glencoe, graduated from New Trier High School. She earned a bachelor of fine arts in photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York, where she met her husband. After finishing graduate studies at Temple University's Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, Mrs. Kaplan returned to the Chicago area, where in 1976 she and her husband were married in the back yard of her parents' Glencoe home. Mrs. Kaplan, who was a photographer at the Field Museum and taught photography part time at Columbia College during the late 1970s, began designing hand-beaded bags as a hobby soon after. She then taught the craft at the Suburban Fine Arts Center in Highland Park. "She had the facility to put colors together that others would never imagine would go together," said her cousin Kerry Leaf. "Carol herself was as colorful and unique as her bags." In addition, Mrs. Kaplan was an advocate for children with special needs, leading support groups for the National Alliance for Mental Illness. Her vigor for life was evident in the first "Carol Small Kaplan, I'm not dead yet" party held in November. Mrs. Kaplan, who hoped to make the event an annual one, named and organized the party as a continued celebration of life, even though she knew she was terminally ill. "It ended up being the most incredibly wonderful party," her husband said. Mrs. Kaplan also is survived by two daughters, Samantha and Jessie; her mother, Adele Small; a sister, Margie Small; and her mother-in-law, Esther Kaplan. A memorial service will be held at 2:30 p.m. Thursday in the Piser Chapel, 9200 Skokie Blvd., Skokie.

The following death notice appeared in the Chicago Tribune on August 5, 2003:

Carol Small Kaplan, 51, of Highland Park, formerly of Glencoe, died at her home on August 3. She is survived by her loving husband of 27 years, Howard; her two daughters, Samantha and Jessie; her mother Adele Small; her mother-in-law, Esther; sisters, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Carol was a bead artist and photographer who received a BFA from RIT and an MFA from Temple University's Tyler School of Art. She taught photography at Columbia College and beadwork at the Suburban Fine Arts Centre. A leader of support groups for NAMI (the National Alliance for Mental Illness), Carol also served as an advocate for children with special needs. A gourmet cook, hostess extraordinaire, scuba diver, skier, and gardener, Carol will be remembered as a generous, genuine friend to so many. Her unbreakable spirit will be missed by all. A memorial service in celebration of Carol's life will be held at Piser Chapel, 9200 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie (847-679-4740) at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 7. The family requests that memorial donations be sent to: Palliative Care Center & Hospice of the North Shore, 2821 Central Street, Evanston, IL 60201.