Tillie Applebaum was born Tillie Pevzner to Morris Pevzner and Mary Ashberg on March 10, 1912. Morris and Mary were both from Russia and were of Jewish heritage. Morris immigrated to the United States in 1908 and Mary immigrated in 1906. The family lived in Trenton, New Jersey in the 1910s, and later settled in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Tillie had three brothers: Samuel Pevzner, born in 1908; Albert Abraham “Duds” Pevzner, born in 1913; and William Ashberg Pevzner, born in 1921. Morris Pevzner worked as a printer and owned his own printing shop. Tillie attended Central High School in Springfield.
Tillie married Harold Applebaum in New Jersey in 1941. During their marriage they lived in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The couple divorced in 1971.
Tillie passed away at age 88 in December, 2000.
