Marie Kaldjian (Laurmaa)

1928 - 2024

Kaldjian (Laurmaa), Marie (Maija)
7/18/1928 - 1/13/2024
Eau Claire, WI
Maija Kaldjian died peacefully and with family in her Eau Claire apartment after a short illness. She was 95. Her life was a product and testament of God's goodness and love, in which she remained thankful, joyful, encouraging, and secure to the end.
Maija was born in Oniipa, Ovamboland, Namibia (formerly Southwest Africa) to missionaries of the Finnish Mission Society. Her father, Reverend Erkki Lehto Laurmaa, was from Yli-Ii in northern Finland and her mother, Luise Einberg, from Ambla, near Tapa, Estonia. Maija was the second youngest of six siblings. At the age of three, her mother moved back to Helsinki, Finland to raise the children. They lived in the Finnish Mission House while father continued his work in Africa through WWII and for the Mission Society until his death in 1950. Maija and her family were upheld through the difficulties of long separations and life during the war years by the Mission House community, for whom she maintained a deep, life-long appreciation. She loved her parents deeply, and their examples of loving service and hospitality to others were a lifelong source of inspiration.
Early in the war, Maija was temporarily evacuated with other children to Sweden; later, she worked for a summer as a cowherd in the countryside. After graduating from high school in 1945, Maija attended the University of Helsinki where she studied English literature and linguistics. She travelled to England to practice English, attend conferences, and once earned her return passage to Finland as a cook's assistant on a freighter. Upon graduation, she taught English in Helsinki high schools and at the teacher training college in Jyväskylä. In 1957, she received an American-Finnish Fulbright scholarship to attend the University of Michigan, where Maija began working toward a PhD in linguistics. Her intent was to return to Finland after her studies. However, through a Christian student fellowship group, she met Movses Kaldjian, an Armenian graduate engineering student from Lebanon, and they were married in 1958. The birth of their first child in 1960 put a pause on her graduate studies.
Maija and Movses settled in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where they raised their family and were active in the Ann Arbor Christian Reformed Church. This supportive faith home was the center of their social life and sustained their community contributions. Maija was very active in the public school and music education of their three sons. After the children grew older, Maija resumed work on her PhD. Though she finished all the course requirements, her desire to serve others outweighed her desire to write a dissertation and she returned to teaching. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, Maija taught in the Ann Arbor Public Schools. She became a strong advocate for English language learners (ELL) struggling to fit in, she redesigned their curriculum, and eventually directed high school ELL programs. Movses had a stroke in 1996 and, Maija lovingly cared for her husband at home until his death in 2014. In 2021, Maija moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
Over her entire life, Maija remained in close touch with family in Finland through faithful correspondence and mutual visits while Movses' position on the University of Michigan Engineering faculty presented a lifetime of unexpected opportunities for service and friendships. Graduate students and visiting academics from around the world were regular guests on Sundays and holidays. They lived in Kanpur, India (1962-1964) to help start one of India's Institutes of Technology (and where they had a child). On sabbatical in Helsinki (1973) she once again had the chance to live near her mother and siblings; in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (1981-82) she taught at a women's college; in Yerevan, Armenia (1991-93) she was involved in the community establishing the American University of Armenia. She made her last trips to Finland in 2015-2017 to visit her sister Kaija and Toive, her best friend from the Mission House. The legacies of these relationships continue through today.
Among Maija's greatest passions was reading and learning. She was constantly surrounded by books, her "good friends", and she loved sharing them. From children's literature to Biblical exegeses, from the Desert Fathers and metaphysical poets to contemporary theologians, she wanted to engage their ideas and explore their meaning for our lives. Into her 90s she was still studying Greek so she could read the Bible and other primary materials in their original. (She was already capable in Latin). She took notes and shared quotes on everything she read. To avoid wasting time, she often read the concluding pages or chapter to determing if a book would be worth reading. If she had any sadness about aging, it was the effect of declining vision on her ability to read.
Maija's family gives thanks to God for the gift of experiencing God's love through her life. Her faith, joy, and care for others reflected her deep gratitude for God's love and mercy as shown in Jesus Christ. The Bible was her daily guide and encouragement and she longed to share the good and liberating news of the Gospel with everyone. Faith in God's promises and power was the source of her strength, courage, and confidence. She was encouraging and comforting, a beacon and a source of inspiration, always offering to pray with and for others. While in Eau Claire, she loved listening to weekly church services from Finland and she never stopped desiring that God would use her to serve and support others. Throughout her life she cherished hymns – she sang praise and thanks to God in both English and Finnish to the very end. She understood her life as a pilgrimage, and she joyfully looked forward to completing her journey and arriving in her heavenly home.
Maija was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers Toivo and Erkki, and her sisters Helvi, Kaija, and Orvokki. Survivors include her sons Paul (Meg Nord), Eric (Cindy Stiles), and Lauris (Heather); her grandchildren Emily, Benjamin, Marni, Alex, Anna, and Anne; her Finnish and Armenian nephews and nieces and their children; her dear childhood friend Toive Pekkanen. The family wishes to recognize the ongoing love shown to Maija by members of the Ann Arbor Christian Reformed Church community and neighbors at the Grace Willowbrook apartments and thanks the caregiving staff of the Progressive Care Unit of Mayo Clinic, of Grace Willowbrook Assisted Living, and of Cornerstone Caregiving for their tender and kind care of Maija in her last weeks.
When I shall reach that happy place, I'll be forever blest, for I shall see my Father's face, and in his bosom rest.
Kaikesta, oi Herra, sulle annan ikikiitoksen!
(For all things, O Lord, to you I give eternal thanks!)
Memorial service will take place in Ann Arbor, Michigan at a later date.