Lillian Etkind makes it to her 103rd birthday, 103 cards in hand, and then bids farewell

Sue Scheible, The Patriot Ledger
·3 min read
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COHASSET – With a huge dose of community kindness received in her final days, Lillian Etkind held on to reach her 103rd birthday Monday before she passed away in the early morning hours.

Etkind drew a big following as she closed out her 102nd year at Sunrise Senior Living, where she received 103 birthday cards Saturday that had been made by Deer Hill School students and others.

Lillian Etkind, a resident of Sunrise Senior Living in Cohasset, holds one of the 103 cards that Cohasset's Deer Hill School students made for her 103rd birthday Monday, May 23, 2022.
Lillian Etkind, a resident of Sunrise Senior Living in Cohasset, holds one of the 103 cards that Cohasset's Deer Hill School students made for her 103rd birthday Monday, May 23, 2022.

"It was last minute, but I sent out an email Friday that birthday cards for Lillian were welcome, and by the end of the day we had a boxful," Principal Alexandra Sullivan said Monday morning. Sullivan was saddened to hear of Etkind's passing, but grateful to have renewed bonds with the senior facility.

Students in different grades at Deer Hill made the cards, along with staff and parents, and some remembered Etkind from a visit the schoolchildren made to the assisted living residence.

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Last Friday, Sarah Murphy, activity assistant at Sunrise, reached out to the school, the Cohasset National Honor Society and on Facebook requesting the special cards. The 103 cards were presented to Etkind on Saturday as her family gathered with her for a party.

Etkind, who grew up in Chelsea and lived in Waltham and Newton,  was at Sunrise for a year and a half. One of her biggest joys there was making new friends at age 102.

One of the 103 birthday cards Lillian Etkind received for her 103rd birthday from students at Deer Hill School in Cohasset.
One of the 103 birthday cards Lillian Etkind received for her 103rd birthday from students at Deer Hill School in Cohasset.

"Lillian is one of these amazing people," Lea Goddard, executive director of Sunrise, said Sunday. "We have been asking her at age 102 how she has managed to live so long. And she just says she doesn't know, or that it's good genes, or that she drinks a glass of orange juice with every meal."

Lillian Etkind, one of six children, was raised by her older sister after her mother died when Lillian was 4. She told the senior living staff that she had a good and happy upbringing.

She had two sons, Stephen, a psychologist in Hull with his wife, Susan Etkind, and Alan, who lives in Florida.

Lillian Etkind, 102, and her new friend, Marian Graczyk, 87, on the porch together at Sunrise Senior Living in Cohasset.
Lillian Etkind, 102, and her new friend, Marian Graczyk, 87, on the porch together at Sunrise Senior Living in Cohasset.

When Etkind came to Sunrise in November 2020, Goddard said she told the staff that she wanted to make new friends. She joined in the three daily meals in the dining room and enjoyed activities, especially musical entertainment, daily exercise and word games.

Before long, she had forged a close friendship with a former nun, Marian Graczyk, who is 87 and had lived in Scituate for 40 years.

Graczyk, formerly in the Sacred Holy Child Jesus religious order, became a principal and teacher at Cardinal Cushing High School in Hanover and then a guidance counselor at Notre Dame Academy in Hingham.

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Not long ago, while Lillian and her tablemates were together, she said, “If you told me I would be making friends at the age of 102, I wouldn’t believe it, but here I am and I’ve made good friends!” She also said that with age, she felt freer to express her feelings.

Etkind worked outside the home while raising her family and was an orders editor at the Little, Brown and Co. publisher in Boston. Her husband died in 2010, and she lived on her own in Waltham until moving to Sunrise at age 101.

News of Etkind's passing left some staff in tears Monday.

Sullivan said the school was comforted to receive a message from Murphy which said, "Thank you for choosing kindness. . . . Lillian felt your kindness and the cards brought her such joy. Your cards continued to comfort and bring joy to her family as they sat with her through her last night. I am deeply grateful for your heartfelt kindness you gave to my dear friend, Lillian. Cohasset teachers are truly made of gold."

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Cohasset students cheer Sunrise resident on to her 103rd birthday