Maria Heimstra passed away peacefully on December 9, 2023, with family at her bedside, after experiencing complications from surgery. She had been battling congestive heart failure and was hopeful that this surgery would alleviate her symptoms.
Maria Stella Urbanyi was born on September 9. 1934 in Budapest, Hungary to Mathilde (Gentzinger) and Dr Eugene Urbanyi. Her father was a military surgeon and was deployed to various WWII battlegrounds, eventually serving at the Russian front. His hospital team and family members were ordered to Germany, barely escaping the advancing Russian Army.
The group traveled on barges up the frozen Danube River, rode in cattle cars and in the backs of trucks to reach Germany. They spent 3 years in Germany before seeking refuge in England. Their time in England was devastating as her mother passed away from complications of childbirth with a stillborn son.
Eventually, Dr Urbanyi obtained a work visa, and they were able to come to the United States. He was sponsored by the Presentation Sisters of Aberdeen, South Dakota to work as a staff physician at St Lukes Hospital. Rural areas of South Dakota were desperate for physicians at this time and Eugene grew to love the region and built a thriving practice. Maria was able to experience her lifelong dream of becoming an American girl, living in the west with cowboys and Indians.
Maria met her friend Ann Haase while attending Central High School in Aberdeen. They remained good friends for her lifetime. After graduation, she was accepted at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion and majored in Fine Arts. She met her future husband, Norman Heimstra while tutoring him in German. They were married in Sioux Falls on June 11th, 1955. They soon moved to Rochester, New York where Norman earned his PhD. They lived in New York, Georgia and Texas before settling down in Vermillion, where Norman became a Psychology professor at USD, Maria earned her master’s degree in foreign Languages and taught German at USD for 10 years.
She was preceded in death by her husband who died on December 30, 1982. Maria spent the ensuing years enjoying her horses and dogs and living at her home north of Vermillion. She was a member of the congregation at St Agnes Catholic church and was a member of the Catholic Daughters. She stayed active by painting and writing children’s books, fiction and stories of her life growing up during the war.
She was very proud to be an American and to live in the United States, she also loved the community of Vermillion. She spent the past few months living in Kansas with her daughter. She is survived by three children, Norman Heimstra of Tremonton, Utah, Cora (Dan) Gehrt of Manhattan, KS and Margo (Ryan) Conley of Springfield, TN, four grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.
The family will receive friends from 4:00 to 7:00 P.M. Friday, May 31st, at St. Agnes Catholic Church in Vermillion, SD. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 A.M. Saturday, June 1st, at St. Agnes Catholic Church with the family and friends invited to a luncheon following in St. Agnes Catholic Church school auditorium. Graveside services will be held at 3:30 P.M. Saturday, June 1st, at Valley View Cemetery in Rock Valley, IA.