Born-14th Oct 1930, Died-9 Feb 2014

Lily was born, the second daughter to Solomon and Elisheba Garapkar in Karachi, Pakistan on 14 October 1930. As a child, she studied for ten years at the "Jufel Hurst High School” till the family moved to Poona, in India.

On 1st Nov 1947, there started riots in Karachi Pakistan and it became highly unsafe for the small Jewish community to continue to reside in Pakistan, as a result most of the Jewish families started relocating to various towns and cities in the erstwhile Bombay Presidency. Lily and her family moved to Poona, to the house of her parents on Shiral Seth Street in Rashtha Peth a typical Jewish neighborhood in Poona.

Lily continued her studies for another two years at the Convent of Jesus & Mary in Poona, after which was at home for a short while. In 1952 she started her three year course in nursing education and training at the Sassoon Hospital. She did a specialization course for an additional year as a midwife. After completion of her training she continued to work at the Sassoon Hospital. In 1962 with the outbreak of the India/China War she was loaned to the Indian Army for service at the Military Hospital in Ramgarh, in Bihar State. After two years (because of her experience) she was transferred as an operating theatre nurse to a large hospital in Lucknow, in Utter Pradesh State. There she served for the next five years till 1967, achieving the rank of lieutenant given to nurses at that time.

In 1967, immediately after the "Six Day War”, she immigrated to Israel together with her mother and they lived in Lod. For the first six months they studied Hebrew in an Ulpan in Beersheba. After the Ulpan she worked for about two months in a factory manufacturing socks, after which she found work as a nurse in Assaf Ha Rofeh Hospital in the general ward as an operating theatre nurse. After several years, the general ward was split and Lily was transferred with part of it to the Ophthalmic Ward. During this period she was awarded the "Prize for Excellency & Efficiency”. She worked in the Hospital for 22 years up to 1990.

After retirement she continued to work at the Hospital on a special contract basis for two years after which she stopped, because of heart problems.
It is said the Lily had good and dexterous hands and did a lot of excellent work with them. She loved to knit, sew, embroidery, loved to read and was neat, clean and orderly. Her home was always orderly and clean and Thursday was her house cleaning day. She never got married and lived and took care of her mother Elisheba for several years. In the year 2010 Lily moved to Beit Zimmermann a Senior Citizens Home in Raanana.

Lily died on 9 Feb 2014 and is buried in the new Cemetery in Herzilya.
May her Soul Rest in Peace.

Written by:

Avner Isaac-Chairman Indian Jewish Heritage Center (Original in Hebrew)

Translated and Edited by:

Nissim Moses-Historian Indian Jewish Heritage and Bene Israel Genealogy Research President Indian Jewish Heritage Center