lillian was ‘easy to fall in love with' — and jack’s been holding her hand for 78 years
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lillian and jack margolis at home on tuesday december 23, 2025. the image behind them is a photograph of them taken in 1943, when she was 16 and he was 17. the couple married four years later.
pierre obendrauf
/
montreal gazette
it was cold in montreal the night of dec. 30, 1947 — really cold, with the mercury hovering at around minus-22 degrees celsius. but inside the beth david synagogue in outremont, it was warm and the mood was festive as guests in formal wear gathered to celebrate the wedding of lillian kaplan, 20, and jack margolis, 21.
camillien houde was the mayor and streetcars were ubiquitous. much about montreal has changed in the nearly eight decades since that time: the st-joseph blvd. building that housed the synagogue, for one, is now the st-nicholas russian orthodox cathedral.
but lillian and jack still look adoringly at one another and in the run-up to their 78th wedding anniversary on tuesday, they reflected on their long and productive union.
lillian and jack margolis on their wedding day, dec. 30, 1947.
photo courtesy of janie etinson
“i think we both place the same importance on the marriage,” mused jack, 99. “we don’t argue and we avoid friction. my wife happens to be a very kind and generous person — very easy to get along with. and lil was, and is, very beautiful. it was easy to fall in love with her.”
lillian, 98, was categorical: “i was really madly in love with jack. and that was that,” she said.
“i still want him to hold my hand when we are in bed together.”
for them, marrying young meant starting a family young — and having children “brought a lot of joy and happiness to our lives,” jack said.
the first two of their three daughters were born a year apart, the third a few years later. today diane fine and janie etinson are in their mid-70s; monica margolis, the youngest, is in her early 70s. lillian and jack are grandparents to 10 and great-grandparents to 17.
“looking back, i think we did the right thing,” jack said. “we got married young and did everything together. we were excellent partners. lil was happy at home, with no designs on a career: she loved cooking and being with the children. i, on the other hand, put all my efforts into being successful in business. it was a good partnership.”
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janie said: “we really had a beautiful childhood.”
“i think we both place the same importance on the marriage,” says jack margolis, 99. “i still want him to hold my hand when we are in bed together,” adds lillian margolis, 98.
pierre obendrauf
/
montreal gazette
monica recalled how, during the week, her father worked late in the women’s clothing business he had founded. “and on friday nights, we would wait at the door for him with a drink.”
he’d pick up caramel popcorn at peggy’s nut shop on queen mary rd. — he and lillian both loved it — and there were regular friday night hootenannies in the basement of their côte-st-luc home, monica said.
“we always had music.”
jack played the guitar; diane played clarinet, banjo and guitar; janie played the flute and monica played piano and recorder.
when bob dylan and joan baez performed at the newport folk festival in the 1960s, the family was in the audience, having driven from montreal. “that would be our summer holiday,” janie recalled.
lillian remembered that she and jack would get together with friends on saturday nights and dance. “we danced well together — and we danced only with each other,” she said. “i love to dance even now.”
at the wedding of their youngest grandchild in 2023, “they had a special dance — and they looked beautiful,” janie recalled.
a lifelong fan of music, jack margolis played guitar at regular family gatherings.
photo courtesy of janie etinson
lillian and jack grew up in plateau-mont-royal — she on villeneuve and st-urbain sts., he on laval ave. both belonged to the ymha, which at the time was on mont-royal ave. near jeanne-mance st. (today it’s a condo building.) lillian swam there and jack belonged to an athletic group known as the 20th century club. “it took us off the streets and i was there all the time.”
they were introduced at lillian’s sweet 16 — her cousin was jack’s best friend — and went out together for a year or two.
“and then we stopped seeing each other because we felt it was getting too serious and i was too young,” jack recalled.
they reconnected a couple of years later and married soon after; they honeymooned in niagara falls.
lillian and jack margolis in an undated photo from the 1940s.
photo courtesy of janie etinson
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in an arrangement initially intended as temporary, lillian’s parents moved in with them. they never left. they all lived together in a modest semi-detached house near a riding stable where the côte-st-luc shopping centre is today: seven people in two bedrooms, with lillian’s parents in the main bedroom.
“it was a nice little house,” jack recalled. after they had the basement excavated, he and lillian moved downstairs and had their bedroom there.
jack was 44 and lillian 43 when their first grandchild was born. that they were so young made for close-knit relationships with their grandchildren and all kinds of activities together: winter weekends were spent in the eastern townships or the laurentians on cross-country or downhill skis.
for as long as they were able to, lillian and jack hosted dinner on friday nights for the entire family. “the more the merrier,” as one grandchild recalled. “they were special times.”
jack and lillian margolis in 1978.
photo courtesy of janie etinson
after jack’s retirement, he and lillian took courses on topics ranging from current events to the great cities of the world, monica recalled. jack played doubles tennis into his 90s and swam regularly in the pool of the côte-st-luc highrise apartment building the couple have called home for nearly 40 years.
they read newspapers daily and keep abreast of current events. they dress nicely and lillian is rarely without makeup. jack’s love for music endures: janie’s husband, michael, prepared a compilation of jack’s favourite classical and folk music to which he listens daily.
michael also loaded 40,000 family photos dating back to the 1920s onto a digital photo frame. “it’s one of my mother’s greatest joys to just sit and watch them,” janie said.
for lillian and jack margolis, marrying young meant starting a family young. they have three daughters, 10 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.
pierre obendrauf
/
montreal gazette
lillian and jack move more slowly these days than they used to, and their hearing isn’t as good. on weekdays a caregiver helps, making food and pharmacy orders, giving them their medication and preparing their meals. on weekends they have help in the mornings.
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they are surrounded by the presence — and love — of family. daughter diane lives in toronto, but janie, monica and nearly all the couple’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren live in montreal and most visit regularly; a granddaughter and granddaughters-in-law cook and bring over food for them.
one great-grandson is named jack and a great-granddaughter has lillian as her middle name. “it’s an honour and they were both touched,” janie said.
if the family is as close-knit, it is because lillian and jack always emphasized the importance of family, one grandchild observed. “family was always a priority for them. they had great family values and there was very little conflict.”
a party with family and close friends is planned for early 2026.
lillian and jack margolis at a family wedding in 2023 with their three daughters: monica margolis, left, diane fine and janie etinson.
photo courtesy of janie etinson
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