Maija Grendze's Obituary
Maija M. (Nee Varsbergs) Grendze, 92, of Geneva and formerly of Cleveland, OH, passed away on August 20, 2019 in Geneva. She was born on July 13, 1927 to Viktors and Marta (nee Barbans) Varsbergs in Latvia. She was married to the love of her life, Laimdots Grendze on July 2, 1955 in Chicago.
By all appearances, Maija was a common bird from a small, mostly unknown wooded country in the North of Europe bordering the Baltic sea. Her family sees Maija like a wren or a chickadee, unassuming but full of song. WW2 made refugees of her family. Their flight eventually brought them to America, though a bomb in Berlin took her father, leaving her mother with four children and no home. Maija had the hands of her hard-working farmer parents, and very young learned to pitch-in no matter the task, digging, planting, cooking, cleaning, sewing, teaching, writing. If she could help, she did. And so this common bird had an uncommon life. She moved through displacement and encampment, creating love-feathered nests wherever she landed, from Senatobia, MS, to life as a pastor’s wife in Chicago, IL, rural Indiana, small town Rosenfeld, Manitoba, the burbs of Cleveland, OH. Her final home was with her daughter, the youngest of her six children, in Geneva, IL.
Like many of her generation, Maija seemed indefatigable. She grew a family, taught kindergarten, was principal of a Latvian Saturday school, director of a summer camp in Michigan (which was founded by her brother, for God and for Latvia), teacher for a year in Riga’s Christian school after Latvia regained its independence from the occupying Soviets, volunteer in numerous organizations, and when she “lost her independence” and moved in with Rita, created her own business Maijassomas, handbags pieced together from repurposed Latvian textiles, sold to benefit needy children in Latvia. It has always been clear to her family and friends that Maija belonged to something bigger than herself, bigger than all of us. Her life was not without terrible hurts and disappointments, failures and misgivings, but through it all, she trusted in a gracious God, and this spirit was the wind to her wings.
Maija leaves behind 6 children Peter (Nancy) Grendze, Davids (Silvija) Grendze, Martin (Inara Linda) Grendze, Karl Grendze, Ilze (Joe) O’Hara, and Rita (Andris) Grendze, 13 grandchildren; Emily (Shay), Edite, Karlina, Emili, Krista, Mikelis, Cullen, Karlis, Valdis, Aedan, Ella, Seamus, and Emils, 2 sisters; Anna (the late Vitalijs) Lackajs and Baiba (Ken) Guess, and one sister in law; Biruta (the late Vilis) Varsbergs.
Maija is preceded in death by her parents, her husband Laimdots, and a grandson Brandon (Heather) Grendze.
A memorial service will be held on September 7, 2019 at 10 a.m. in Maija’s church home, the United Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cleveland, 1385 Andrews Ave., Lakewood, OH. Visitation immediately preceding the service (from 9 a.m.). Following services Maija will be interred next to husband at Sunset Memorial Park in North Olmsted, OH.
In lieu of flowers Maija’s family respectfully asks for donations to the Latvian Center Garezers in MI, or to the Latvian Ev. Lutheran Church of Cleveland, or that you do a good deed in her honor.
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