Marilyn Jarin Hindin

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Marilyn Malerman Jarin Hindin, age 101, on April 5, two months shy of 102. A lifelong resident of the metropolitan Philadelphia area, she studied and appreciated many aspects of the city’s history and supported its art institutions, but she especially enjoyed its Jewish connections. She was the granddaughter and daughter of the successive owners of Malerman’s Hebrew Bookstore (Pine Street and then Ogontz Avenue). A lifelong Phillies fan, she heard some of the first radio broadcasts in the 1920s, recording statistics on homemade score cards. Marilyn is a graduate of the Birney School, Wagner Jr. High, and Gratz High School (Class of 1941). A draftswoman at The Yale and Towne Manufacturing Company during WWII, she helped to fulfill the federally directed quota for Jewish employees. In 1943 she married her first husband, Harold C. Jarin, so that she could travel with him during his basic training. That marked the first time she ventured west of Ardmore. During the 1950s they were the founding members of many aspects of Oreland, Pennsylvania, including Temple Beth Tikvah, for which she sewed the curtains. She served as Democratic Committeewoman in then staunchly Republican Springfield Township. Marilyn and Harold had three children. 

In the 1960s Marilyn earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Temple University. A history major, she wrote her Master’s thesis on the 1950s political reform movement in Philadelphia. From 1968 to 1988 she taught social studies and economics at Philadelphia High School for Girls. Countless former students have sent accolades, describing how Marilyn taught them far more than history facts. She prepared them well for college and careers, setting high standards but showing them how to reach those goals. Many of her earliest students mentioned that she accomplished all of that while dressing stylishly and relating well to young women in the changing social environment of the time. 

After the premature death of her first husband of 30 years, Marilyn married Eugene Hindin in 1980. Married for 31 years, they traveled the world (always looking for Jewish sites), enjoyed their grandchildren, and hosted holiday dinners. In addition to her parents, sister, and two husbands, a granddaughter Valerie predeceased her. She is the loving mother of Suzanne (the late Michael), Kenneth (Robin), and Diane (Israel) as well as the adoring grandmother of Heather (Mark), Harry (Raymond), Laura, Alexander, and Karley and great-grandmother of Jacob. 

Relatives and friends are invited to funeral services on Tuesday April 9 at 1:00 PM at Joseph Levine & Sons 4737 Street Road, Trevose, PA. Interment to follow at Roosevelt Memorial Park.

Those unable to join in person may stream chapel services at www.levinefuneral.com/trevose-webcam.html.

Contributions in her memory may be sent to the Harold C. Jarin and Marilyn Hindin Jarin Library Fund at Temple University or the Valerie Zukin Memorial Fellowship (https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTQwMjU0).