obituaries
Lilian Paikin, Who Worked Well
Into Her 100s, Dies at 106
GALL SIGLER | SPECIAL TO THE JE
L ilian Paikin, a Philadelphia
native and longtime bookkeeper
at Frank Paikin Auto, died on
July 25. She was 106.

Few people can claim to witness
as many historical milestones as did
Paikin. Born in 1916, she lived to
see the world wars, the Spanish Flu,
the Great Depression, the Cold War
and the moon landing — as well as
COVID-19. In 1978, Paikin began working at
her son’s car dealership in Glenside as
a bookkeeper. She stayed on for more
than four decades, until she was 105.

“She was always a bookkeeper,
always very good with numbers,” said
her niece, Ellen Pluto.

The business remains familial to
this day. When Paikin’s son, Franklin
Paikin, died in 2003, his son, Scott
Paikin, succeeded him as the head of
the business. His wife, Lori Paikin, is
the marketing manager.

Paikin was meticulous at her job. She
kept records of every car sold.

“She’s from an age where people
really took pride in their work,” Scott
Paikin said in a 2020 interview with
the Jewish Exponent. “Nobody else has
that ethic like she does anymore. She
won’t go out to dinner with her girl-
friend if she knows she has paperwork
to do.”
Paikin’s work ethic was evident in
her memories of youth.

“I started work when I was 15 and
have really been working ever since. I
worked at Woolworth’s five-and-dime.

I was selling ice cream sandwiches on
a waffle,” she recalled in that Exponent
story. Before joining her son’s dealership,
Paikin worked as a bookkeeper for
Fleet Leasing in North Philadelphia.

Paikin was called “Mama Lily” by
family members, and her grandchil-
dren felt intimately connected to her.

“She was practically a mother to me
as I was growing up,” Scott Paikin said
in 2020.

Lori Paikin, though not connected to
Lilian Paikin by blood, viewed her as a
grandmother, too.

“All of my natural grandparents
passed by the time I was 26. She’s
been my only grandmother for more
than half of my life now,” she in
an Instagram post following Paikin’s
passing. Paikin lived on Rorer Street for 70
years before moving to Jenkintown
16 years ago at the encouragement of
granddaughter Jill Stein.

“It gave her a new lease on life,”
Pluto said.

Paikin flourished in the Jenkintown
apartment house, making new friends,
spending time with family and partic-
ipating in bingo, Scrabble and casino
nights. Family remained at the center of
Paikin’s life.

“Lily babysat for all of the great-grand-
children at different stages,” Stein said.

Part of Paikin’s devotion to fam-
ily was a commitment to keeping its
history alive. Paikin documented her
family’s history and wrote six stories
covering events since 1898 when her
mother arrived in the United States.

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24 AUGUST 11, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM