Maria Krenz

Maria Krenz died on November 9, 2022, at the age of 78. She was born on April 24, 1944, in Budapest, Hungary, to Marianne Donner and Alexander Fleischl (changed to Felhos after the Holocaust). Although she left a little piece of her soul in Budapest, she didn’t find her real home until arriving in Boulder and encountering the Religious Society of Friends.

Raised Catholic but of Jewish ancestry, she learned to hide both of these things in a time and place where being a good Communist was the only path to safety. Looking for shelter, procuring food, and trying to make sense of an incomprehensible world dominated her childhood. She lost her father at the age of 6 and became her mother’s mainstay.

After surviving the unsuccessful Hungarian revolt against the tyranny of the Soviet occupation in 1956, Maria and her mother emigrated to Venezuela with the help of a relative. She attended a Catholic high school. A yearning to belong and a deep desire to feel close to God led her to enter a convent. However, after two years as a postulant and one as a nun, her fierce independence couldn’t submit to the vow of obedience and she knew she had to leave.

In 1964, following a military coup in Venezuela, Maria and her mother succeeded in immigrating to the United States. The huge welcome sign above the line for immigrants became a promise fulfilled. She received U.S. citizenship five years later and never felt like a second-rate American. In New York, she learned English and worked in the loan department of the Bank of New York while also attending evening classes at the College of the City of New York (later City University of NY). In 1968, she moved to Boulder to study at the University of Colorado, where she earned a BA and MA in Spanish literature while also working as a secretary in the Electrical Engineering Department.

In 1971, she found her religious home on her first visit to the Boulder Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. In 1972, Maria married Jerrold Krenz, and their son Christopher was born the year after. After Maria’s dear friend, Susan Boulding, died of cancer, Susan’s son, Bjorn, became a beloved second son to her. From 1976 until her retirement in 1994, Maria worked with the Environmental and Societal Impacts group at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) as a writer/editor and administrator, winning several awards for her contributions. After a 30-year marriage, she divorced and found the love of her life, Mary Hey. Maria and Mary traveled all over the world, sharing their passion for beauty – both natural and humanly created. She also gained a beloved daughter in Emily Hey.

Maria was a devoted volunteer in Quaker Meeting. She served on virtually every committee, including the two most humble yet crucial ones, service and fellowship. She served as Clerk, most notably during the remodeling of our building to meet the needs of both the Meeting and the wider community. She was also for many years the Meeting Historian and Archivist, becoming an indispensable source of knowledge about everything from past membership to Quaker procedure. After retiring from NCAR, she focused above all on the cause she held dearest, care for the homeless. Last but surely not least, she was a wonderful cook even if she always denied it, however hungrily we ate the food she prepared so lovingly for us.

Maria was soft-spoken and unassuming yet had a powerful impact on those around her: she combined unfailing kindness with the plainspoken clarity of a great truth-teller. She was a loving servant to her family, her many friends, and the wider world. Maria was a wonderful listener, bringing an open heart and true compassion to everyone she met. She befriended newcomers to the Meeting and maintained close ties with everyone—so much so that she was the person everyone turned to to learn who anyone was. With gentleness, determination, and humor, she lifted people up, supported community at every level, and made the world a better place than she found it.

In 2009, Maria published her book, Made in Hungary: A Life Forged by History, which dissolved whatever fear about being Jewish still lingered in her heart. After carrying her childhood memories of the Holocaust, the Soviet era, the Hungarian revolution, and the Venezuelan coup in silence for many years, she made peace with her past by sharing her story.

Over the last ten years of her life, she took classes with fascination and joy at the university and at Nevei Kodesh, hungrily learning about Jewish history, philosophy, ethics, and life rhythms. In giving talks about the Holocaust at the university and elsewhere, she found that bearing witness was her true calling, and perhaps the reason she survived against all odds.

Maria is mourned by her extended family, her many friends from all walks of life, and the members of Boulder Meeting, where her practical and spiritual gifts were a source of unceasing gratitude and deepest joy.