Elva Shapiro, 94, died at her home on December 27, 2011. Elva Rose Caplan was born on November 28, 1917 in Wampum PA. She was the daughter of the late Abraham J. Caplan and the late Henrietta Caplan (nee Cohn). Her father Abraham Caplan emigrated from Latvia as a young boy. He had no formal education, yet was a successful entrepreneur and businessman. He was the owner the Wampum Flour Mill in Wampum PA. His flour, Elva's Choice, was named in honor of his daughter.Elva attended school in Wampum PA and was a member of one of the first classes to graduate from Wampum High School in the midst of the Depression in 1936. She attended The Ohio State University and earned her Bachelor's degree in dietary science in 1940. She worked as a dietician in various hospitals in Pittsburgh PA until 1941 when she married her first husband, Meyer B. Rosenberg, a pharmacist and owner of Hyde's Drug Store in Mahoningtown PA. Elva and Meyer had one child, Helane S. Rosenberg who survives her. After his death in July 1962, Elva returned to Westminster College where she began working on her Master's Degree in Education. After receiving her Master's Degree, she taught Home Economics at George Washington Junior High School, around the corner from her house in New Castle PA. In October 1967 she married the late David Shapiro, owner of Reliable Lumber and The Paneling House, both in New Castle. David Shapiro died in 1977. Elva loved Western PA, only living outside that area when she attended college and, more recently, when she went to Central New Jersey to recuperate from her cancer surgery. She lived in Wampum, Pittsburgh, New Kensington, but for most of her adult life, she lived in her beloved New Castle. In fact, she lived in her Sheridan Avenue home for almost 70 years. She was active in Hadassah and the Tifereth Israel sisterhood. She was also an active participant in the Home Economics Association. As a young married woman, she and her first husband Meyer (Mike) Rosenberg won many dance competitions. Keen to reinvent herself during her second marriage, Elva proudly described her camping and fishing trips with her second husband Dave Shapiro. Elva shared her daughter Helane's passion for theatre, twice yearly visiting her in New York and attending Broadway and off-Broadway productions for over thirty theatrical seasons. Elva was an avid reader whose tastes in books ran from contemporary fiction to detective stories to biographies to historical accounts of events she had experienced in her long life. Her other passion was clothing and, until recently, Elva subscribed to W Magazine so she could remained well-informed about what well-dressed women everywhere were wearing from season to season.Finally, as a later-in-life grandmother, Elva liked her daily phone call reports about her twin grandchildren, Nathaniel who is attending the University of Chicago and Allegra who attends the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Surprisingly also, Elva took a true liking to the twin's family dog Yankee, whom she referred to as her grand-dog.She is survived by her daughter Dr. Helane S. Rosenberg, of Highland Park NJ and Manhattan who is a Professor at Rutgers University, her son-in-law Dr. Yakov M. Epstein, also a Professor at Rutgers University, her twin grandchildren Nathaniel Henry Epstein and Allegra Heart Epstein, and a nephew, David Caplan of Chicago. Elva was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Melvin Caplan of Ellwood City, and her two husbands. Funeral Services, led by Elva's son-in-law Yakov Epstein, will be held at the R. Cunningham Funeral Home and Crematory, Inc., 2429 Wilmington Road in New Castle PA at 12 noon on Friday December 30, 2011. Visitation will be held from 11 a.m. to 12. Burial at Tifereth Israel Cemetery follows the service. Shiva will be observed in Highland Park, NJ. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Solomon Schechter Day School of Raritan Valley, 511 Ryders Lane, East Brunswick, NJ 08816.