Necrology

Norman Ewald Kappler '56

Sep. 11, 1934-Sep. 27, 2018

Norman Ewald Kappler ’56, an advertising executive most recently of Vero Beach, Fla., was born on Sept. 11, 1934, in New York City, a son of the former Helen Reman and Norman Kappler, an executive with the Chase Bag Co. He was raised in Ardsley-on-Hudson, N.Y., and prepared for college at the Hackley School.

On the Hill, Kappler was a member of the soccer and squash teams, College Choir, Spanish Club, and Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. He majored in English literature.

Reflecting on his years at Hamilton, he noted 50 years later the College’s impact on his life when he wrote it was “probably more than I realize, but it sure formed my historical reading patterns and a fascination with the use of language.”

Kappler served three years with the U.S. Navy starting in the fall of 1956. He then embarked on a 27-year career with Young and Rubicam in New York, at that time the world’s largest advertising agency. In the mid 1970s, he relocated to Japan to open an Y&R office there, and then moved on to Hong Kong, spending five years in the Far East. Later he lived in London managing that office and initiating several Pan-European projects for Y&R clients.

Having returned stateside in the mid 1980s, Kappler worked with domestic clients until his retirement. After several consulting jobs in New York City, he moved to Sharon, Conn., where he served on the board of a local theatre and the Sharon Country Club. Thereafter he moved to Vero Beach.

Greg Bathon ’56, Kappler’s freshman-year roommate and a class correspondent for the Hamilton magazine, shared at a memorial service for his friend: “Norman called me once to say that he was sure the boys of 1956 would be interested to read about the curious influence that the number three had exerted upon his life.” Kappler once offered this evidence in a class note: three years in the Navy after OCS, three wives, three children, three divorces, three companies worked for, and three operations for cancer.

Kappler died on Sept. 27, 2018. He was 84 years old. He was the father of two sons and a daughter, and at the time of his death was cared for by longtime companion Linda Clark.

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