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While researching this question I came across a picture of the gravestone of Reb Arye Kaplan זצ"ל.
The post-final line reads:
נפטר בש"ט בי"ד בשבט תשמ"ג
What does the abbreviation בש"ט stand for? All I can think of is 'בשעה טובה' - hardly appropriate for a deceased in a good time, especially since he was all of 48 years old! :-(
It stands for נפטר בשם טוב - he died with a good name.
The expression is based on Berachot 17a.
רבי יוחנן כי הוה מסיים ספרא דאיוב אמר הכי סוף אדם למות וסוף בהמה לשחיטה והכל למיתה הם עומדים אשרי מי שגדל בתורה ועמלו בתורה ועושה נחת רוח ליוצרו וגדל בשם טוב ונפטר בשם טוב מן העולם
When Rabbi Yoḥanan would conclude the book of Job, he said the following: A person will ultimately die and an animal will ultimately be slaughtered, and all are destined for death. Happy is he who grew up in Torah, whose labor is in Torah, who gives pleasure to his Creator, who grew up with a good name and who took leave of the world with a good name.
