On June 21, 2015, artist Galya Pillin Tarmu passed away in the Jersey City home of her son Eldad and daughter-in-law Alina. Her life was characterized by the values of truth, passion, and courage. On August 13, 2015, she would have turned 89.
Galya’s personal life was filled with devoted friends drawn to her authenticity, wisdom and clear sense of values. She struggled throughout her life with afflictions that would have rendered a less courageous person unproductive. Until her late eighties, Galya conducted her life as an artist with great intensity, putting in days of work that would make a person half her age envious. She is a hero to anyone that aspires to be creative and fully genuine.
Sadly, Galya’s last years were made painfully complicated by a recurring lung cancer and exhausting legal battles caused by unscrupulous attacks to her financial security.
Through her voracious readings, Galya was acutely aware of everything going on in the world. During her final years she kept a social media presence and a blog (now under galyatarmu.com), which was a reflection of her artistic insights and vision.
Galya Pillin Tarmu
1926-2015
connections/galya pillin tarmu 
dear eldad and alina, thank you!! i loved galya, and yehuda too. galya was, as you said, authentically her own person, was a warm and loving friend and of course i so admired her paintings all through the years. i send my love and admiration to you both. xxx from ruti
Thank you, Ruthie.
Thank you for this well-written true tribute to my friend since my childhood through my growing up: the painter Galya Pillin-Tarmu. And thank you Eldad and Alina for your care of her that I witnessed over the last five months. You made her welcome in your small quarters. You made sure she saw a good doctor and a good nurse and nursing assistant–Sylvia, who I met, and who seemed so fond of Galya. And Galya thrived in that she continued to think and talk and discuss, and read, be ambitious for her work to be seen, and prepare for the next body of work. And she was so grateful for your intellectual exchanges and care that came with a light touch, and even humor. And for a moment she and we thought there would be time. And although there wasn’t, and she began to decline, you made it so she could live the last in dignity and love.
Thank you, Noa.
dear eldad and alina, i meant to also say how much i appreciate your care of galya. she felt so loved. and thank you for posting her art; i look forward to seeing, reading more. with love from ruthie
Dear Eldad and Alina,
I never met Galya, but we had a few email exchanges after I discovered her brother’s (your uncle’s) poetry. I wanted to write to him, but as he was not living, I found her online and wrote to her, instead. As she wrote to me, it felt that we were “kindred souls somehow.” I have not looked at her blog in some time and so only learned of her passing today. I am sorry to hear she has died, and had such struggles at the end of her time here; I am grateful to learn she was with loved ones.
With love, respect and gratitude for a woman who touched my spirit,
Jennifer
PS If you send me an email with your address, I would like to send you a poem.
Dear Jennifer – thank you! Please send your poem to galyatarmu@gmail.com. We look forward to receiving it.