Maria was born in the province of Utrecht, The Netherlands, on April 3, 1928, one of six children born to Simon and Maria Korver. As a child, she was a self-described loner and liked nothing better than being in the family’s orchard with a book. In her teens she was plagued by high blood pressure, treatable at the time only with much rest and no fun. Although she loved learning, she ended up going to a school for all skills related to domestic life. This came in handy when she immigrated alone to Ontario, Canada to join her brother and his family. She had a variety of jobs as household help, which took her all over the province and beyond. Wherever she went, she found a church to attend and become involved in. When her mother became frail, she fulfilled a promise and went back to Holland to care for her until she passed away. But the free life in Canada beckoned and she went back to Ontario, again working for families and in care facilities. Her English kept improving and in her early thirties she did what she had longed to do – study! She attended and graduated from the Reformed Bible Institute in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

After those three challenging but wonderful years, her jobs still involved helping families and individuals in Ontario and beyond. For several years she was live-in help in Rocky Mountain House for a family who had lost their mother - which also allowed her some free time and weekends with her Korver relatives in Alberta. Back in Ontario she worked in a large care home but the old building and the high humidity aggravated her weak lungs so when a motherless family in B.C. asked for a live-in housekeeper, she moved to Maple Ridge. After a year, she married the widower and became instant mother to six children. A year later they had a baby. That made three very eventful Septembers!

Her health problems were finally overcome through naturopathy, so she made herself an organic and supplement expert, much to the exasperation of her family! She was most often found in the kitchen, making something from scratch, behind the sewing machine, doing alterations for someone, playing hymns on the organ, at the table surrounded by Bible study books to prepare for and lead the next ladies’ Bible study, or writing a letter to a person or group needing a reminder of what the Bible taught. This continued after they moved to Abbotsford. After years of retirement they moved to a condo and she supported her husband through his decline with Alzheimer’s, later visiting him every day for his last three years in a care facility. At age 91, she was convinced to move to Lethbridge to be nearer to family. First in an apartment, she later moved to Elim Village in 2022. A health crisis in February led to her need for care at Edith Cavell Care Centre where she was looked after until her passing.

Maria was predeceased by her beloved husband, Wiebrand, her two brothers, Wout and Kees, and one sister, Pie, her step-son, Martin, and one son-in-law, Ed. She is survived by her sisters Nel and Jo and many nephews and nieces in the Netherlands, nephews and nieces in Ontario, her step-children Theresa (Peter) Teerling of Lethbridge, Rita Kleywegt of Port Alberni, Audrey (Gary) Malcolm of Edmonton, John (Rachel) Hamming of Armstrong, Wally (Simona) Hamming of Edmonton, and her daughter, Joanne Hardy of Prince George, 19 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren.

A Funeral Service will be held at TRINITY REFORMED CHURCH, 1100 – 40 Avenue North, Lethbridge, AB, on Saturday, August 23, 2025 at 11:00 A.M. with Pastor John van Eyk officiating. The Funeral Service will be live-streamed and may be viewed through Maria’s obituary on the Cornerstone website.

Maria will be laid to rest in a private Family Graveside Service.