Gaytana M. Pino, entrepreneur, South Jersey community leader, and senior citizen advocate, has died at 72

Gaytana M. Pino, 72, of Cherry Hill, entrepreneur, social worker, award-winning South Jersey community leader, volunteer, and senior citizen advocate, died Thursday, Dec. 1, of septic shock at Virtua Voorhees Hospital.

Known for her energy, empathy, and oversized commitment to community service, Ms. Pino was the owner, president, and chief operating officer of Paper & Ribbon Supply Co. in Cherry Hill for more than three decades. Earlier, she worked in Philadelphia as an investigator for Pennsylvania’s Department of Fraud and Abuse Investigation and Recovery, known now as the Bureau of Fraud Prevention and Prosecution, and as a social worker for Pennsylvania’s Department of Public Welfare, now the Department of Human Services.

But Ms. Pino was best known for her countless actions as a volunteer business and community leader, and senior citizen advocate in South Jersey. “She was happiest when she was helping people,” said her niece Jennifer Cotellese. “That was the skill set she had to offer.”

For nearly 30 years, Ms. Pino was president, chair, and former chair of a dozen civic, community, business, and education groups, and an active member in many more. She was a founder of the Cherry Hill Business Council, program coordinator for senior services in Cherry Hill Township, and chair of the Cherry Hill Arts Advisory Board and Wexford Leas Community Group.

In 2011, the Camden County Board of Freeholders, now the Camden County Board of County Commissioners, declared Feb. 17 as Gaye Pino Day in Camden County. “Her compassion extended to the broader community as she spent much of her life giving back to others,” U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross said in a tribute. “Gaye’s absence leaves a hole in our community that is impossible to fill.”

Ms. Pino was the former chair of the Cherry Hill Zoning Board of Adjustment, Philadelphia University School of Business Administration Advisory Board, Cherry Hill Business Partnership, and Pennsylvania Social Service Workers’ Union. She also served as a Democratic Party committee person and on the Camden County Human Relations Committee, Camden County Open Space Advisory Board, Philadelphia Forum of Executive Women, and Cherry Hill Mayor’s Citizen Advisory Board.

As chair of the Cherry Hill Arts Advisory Board, she told The Inquirer in 2008 how she got things done. “Our volunteer board members are the key to our success,” she said, referring to that year’s weeklong Art Blooms Festival. “Each one has an affinity to a particular art form, but all of us are dedicated to bringing top-notch talent to the community to be enjoyed right in our own backyard without the high costs of [Philadelphia.]”

Ms. Pino earned many awards and commendations, including Cherry Hill’s Joyce Alexander Walker Community Service Award and Camden County’s Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Medal for volunteers. She wrote grants, recruited volunteers, raised funds, and lectured at the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, Philadelphia University School of Business, and the eWomen Network.

On Dec. 12, Cherry Hill officials celebrated her career at their township council meeting, calling her a “pillar in our community” and “giant in our town.” In a tribute, a friend said: “I will always remember Gaye’s deep devotion to the arts, Cherry Hill, senior services, and to the Cherry Hill Democratic Party.”

Ms. Pino started with Paper & Ribbon Supply, a national distributor of office supplies, in 1989 and helped increase sales so much over the next decade that she advanced to president, CEO, and finally owner in 2000. From 1981 to 1989, she conducted welfare fraud investigations and other duties for Pennsylvania’s Department of Fraud and Abuse Investigation and Recovery.

In 1980, she provided financial and personal counseling to more than 100 families as a social worker in Philadelphia. “Knowing that she could be a source of comfort and support for so many brought her immense joy,” said her nephew, Chris Pino.

Born May 16, 1950, in Philadelphia, Gaytana Marie Pino grew up in South Philadelphia and graduated from St. Maria Goretti High School, now Ss. Neumann Goretti High School. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Temple University and received graduate education in business law, finance, management, and real estate at Temple, and entrepreneurial training from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

She liked to travel, cook, read, attend the theater, and was active on the St. Thomas More Church Parish Council. “Gaye loved her family, especially her nephew and nieces,” said her sister-in-law, Andrea Florentino. “She always saw the best in them and was so proud of their accomplishments in life.”

In addition to her niece, nephew, and sister-in-law, Ms. Pino is survived by other relatives. A brother died earlier.

Visitation with her family is scheduled for noon to 1 p.m. Monday, Jan. 23, at St. Thomas More Church, 1439 Springdale Rd., Cherry Hill, N.J. 08003. A funeral Mass is to follow. Burial is to be private.

Donations in her name may be made to St. Thomas More Church, 1439 Springdale Rd., Cherry Hill, N.J. 08003.