La Verne to Host Celebration of Life for Associate Marketing Professor Dr. Sue Caple

The University of La Verne is holding a celebration of life Wednesday in memory of Associate Professor of Marketing Dr. Sue Caple, who had been a full-time faculty member at La Verne since 2008.

Caple, 64, of Silverado, died March 1 of carcinoid cancer, a rare slow-growing form of the disease, said Dr. Ibrahim “Abe” Helou, Dean of the College of Business and Public Management. She donated her body to the UCLA School of Medicine for cancer research, and will later be cremated.

“Sue was a great friend and colleague, and an amazing teacher. She will be greatly missed,” said University of La Verne President Devorah Lieberman.

Caple was born March 30, 1949 in International Falls, Minn. She earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from the University of Otago in New Zealand. She came from a family of educators, including three teacher siblings and a husband, Randy Furman, who is a retired teacher.

She had worked as an adjunct professor at the University of La Verne more than 10 years before being hired full time.

“The thing that strikes me the most about her is Sue was the first faculty (member) I hired as a Dean,” Helou said. “For the past eight years, I don’t think I ever regretted that decision, and that’s not something I can say about every hiring decision I have made.”

Helou described Caple as a professor who always put students first, and who had a very calm demeanor that drew people to her.

“I know of only one occasion where she was angry at me and it took me two minutes to resolve the issue with her,” Helou said.

That issue, a turned-down sabbatical request, was resolved when Helou explained the reasons behind the decision.

Caple was one of several professors who worked with students in the Integrated Business Program, where students work in teams to create a start-up company and raise money for charity.
Lieberman said Caple kept a photo of her students from the program on the table next to where she laid during her final days.

“Each student had signed the picture frame with words about how much she impacted them and how she was a true mentor and role model,” Lieberman said. “Sue expressed that the picture and the words were incredibly special to her and she was so proud to have touched many lives in such a powerful way.”

Matthew Chang, a junior majoring in business administration, said he and his classmates in the program last year had no idea that Caple was ill until after the program.

“Just knowing what kind of pain she was going through, and that she was able to put that aside and help us as students and help us with our problems instead of focusing on her own, it shows the level of caring she had not only for her students, but people in general,” Chang said.

Outside of her academic life, Helou described Caple as a woman who loved the outdoors, rose gardens and nature. She volunteered her time supporting environmental causes, he said.
The celebration of life will be 4:30 p.m. March 11 in Morgan Auditorium, followed by a reception.

Donations may be made to the Sue Caple Memorial Fund through the Office of University Advancement by designating the “Caple Memorial Fund” in the memo section of a check, by visiting http://www.laverne.edu/giving and designating the donation “In Memory of Sue Caple” or by calling 909-448-4682.