Lillian Pelham was born in Brooklyn in 1932. In 1963, her brother, mother and daughter moved to a house on Sterling Place in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. Since 1978, she has lived alone and stays active in her neighborhood. In the mid-1970s, she received an associate's degree in nursing at a community college and a bachelor's degree in Community Health and Counseling from St. Francis College. Her occupations have included nurse, entrepreneur and in particular, she served as the Health Resource Coordinator at George Wingate High School and provided group counseling at Samuel J. Tilden High School. After retiring, she wrote a self-help book, "Wisdom in the Air, Wisdom Everywhere." Pelham has three grandchildren.