1932
Maija
2024
Maija (Sturans) Zeidenbergs
September 11, 1932 — October 10, 2024
Maija Zeidenbergs Obituary
Maija Zeidenbergs (Sturans), of Wilmington, DE, passed away at the age of 92 on October, 10, 2024, joining her husband Dr. Girts Zeidenbergs (04.05.1934-02.17.2020), her sons Peter Zeidenbergs (02.07,1962-03.19.2013) and Eriks Andris Zeidenbergs (06.17.1964.-04.10.2015). She leaves behind her daughter Sandra and son in law Erik Jansons and grandchildren Nils and Mara. Maija was born September 11, 1932 in Viesite, Latvia, where she and her two brothers, Saulgaitis and Maris, helped take care of their family farm together with parents Alida Anna (Reguts) and Pauls Martins Sturans. The Soviet occupation in 1940 forced them to flee in fear of deportaion. They landed in Fischbach Displaced Persons (DP) Camp in Germany where Maija went to school and became the head of her class and participated in girl guides. The family found sponsorship after the war and arrived in New York on the General Hahn in February of 1950. They spent a year in Ellisburg, Pennsylvania and another in Webster, New York, where Maija graduated from high school. In correspondence with her friend from the DP camps about girl guides, Maija learn that 17 latvian students were studying at University of Connecticut, Storrs and decided she would join them. There she met Girts, an electrical engineering student, while playing volleyball. They fell in love and were the first married couple to graduate University of Connecticut together. They began their life together in Syracuse NY, Maija working at Syracuse University Hospital as a physical therapist while Girts pursued his PhD. in electrical engineering. As their family grew Maija took on the full time care of their children Peter, Erik and Sandra. The family moved to Poughkeepsie, NY where Girts began his long time career at IBM, and together with Maija, immersed themselves in maintaining their Latvian culture. Years were spent taking their children to Latvian school, choir, girl guides and scouts and folkdancing. Maija supported Girts’ work in the Poughkeepsie Latvian Society, which later evolved into the Latvian Cultural organization TILTS, which played a key role in sustaining Latvian culture in the diaspora community worldwide and promoted ties and exchanges with Latvia. In retirement years, Maija and Girts spent half the year in Latvia, where the they brought back to life Maija’s ancestral country home while the other half year in their Wilmington, DE home, to be near their two grandchildren.
In honor of Maija’s and Girts’ dedication to their Latvian heritage and education, the family kindly asks that memorial donations be made to the Vitolu Fonds, an organization that creates student scholarships for low income families in Latvia. Please make checks payable to Sandra Jansons, memo in memory of Maija Zeidenbergs. For more information, please contact daughter, Sandra, at sandra.zj@gmail.com or 484-639-4005.
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Maija Zeidenbergs (Sturans), of Wilmington, DE, passed away at the age of 92 on October, 10, 2024, joining her husband Dr. Girts Zeidenbergs (04.05.1934-02.17.2020), her sons Peter Zeidenbergs (02.07,1962-03.19.2013) and Eriks Andris Zeidenbergs (06.17.1964.-04.10.2015). She leaves behind her daughter Sandra and son in law Erik Jansons and grandchildren Nils and Mara. Maija was born September 11, 1932 in Viesite, Latvia, where she and her two brothers, Saulgaitis and Maris, helped take care of their family farm together with parents Alida Anna (Reguts) and Pauls Martins Sturans. The Soviet occupation in 1940 forced them to flee in fear of deportaion. They landed in Fischbach Displaced Persons (DP) Camp in Germany where Maija went to school and became the head of her class and participated in girl guides. The family found sponsorship after the war and arrived in New York on the General Hahn in February of 1950. They spent a year in Ellisburg, Pennsylvania and another in Webster, New York, where Maija graduated from high school. In correspondence with her friend from the DP camps about girl guides, Maija learn that 17 latvian students were studying at University of Connecticut, Storrs and decided she would join them. There she met Girts, an electrical engineering student, while playing volleyball. They fell in love and were the first married couple to graduate University of Connecticut together. They began their life together in Syracuse NY, Maija working at Syracuse University Hospital as a physical therapist while Girts pursued his PhD. in electrical engineering. As their family grew Maija took on the full time care of their children Peter, Erik and Sandra. The family moved to Poughkeepsie, NY where Girts began his long time career at IBM, and together with Maija, immersed themselves in maintaining their Latvian culture. Years were spent taking their children to Latvian school, choir, girl guides and scouts and folkdancing. Maija supported Girts’ work in the Poughkeepsie Latvian Society, which later evolved into the Latvian Cultural organization TILTS, which played a key role in sustaining Latvian culture in the diaspora community worldwide and promoted ties and exchanges with Latvia. In retirement years, Maija and Girts spent half the year in Latvia, where the they brought back to life Maija’s ancestral country home while the other half year in their Wilmington, DE home, to be near their two grandchildren.
In honor of Maija’s and Girts’ dedication to their Latvian heritage and education, the family kindly asks that memorial donations be made to the Vitolu Fonds, an organization that creates student scholarships for low income families in Latvia. Please make checks payable to Sandra Jansons, memo in memory of Maija Zeidenbergs. For more information, please contact daughter, Sandra, at sandra.zj@gmail.com or 484-639-4005.
To send flowers
to the family or plant a tree
in memory of Maija (Sturans) Zeidenbergs, please visit our floral store.
Read More
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Maija (Sturans) Zeidenbergs, please visit our flower store.
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