Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2008 / Mrs. Sophie Maida
Mrs. Sophie Maida
Obituary
by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published Online January 31, 2008
 Detroit -- Family played an important role in the life of Sophie Maida, mother of Cardinal Adam Maida, so it was fitting that she was surrounded by family members when she died in the early afternoon of Jan. 30. Mrs. Maida, 99, died at her suburban Pittsburgh home.
Cardinal Maida remembered that his mother enjoyed people, including her three sons, three grandsons and their families, and was a good listener. She was a faith-filled woman, he said, and had a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her favorite prayer was the Magnificat.
In fact, youngest son Daniel remembered that his mother's prayer life was so strong, that even in her last few weeks, confined to her bed, she never stopped praying. She usually prayed several times a day, including going to daily Mass and saying the rosary.
"You had to manage your life around her prayer life, or you would be saying the rosary," he said.
It was during the rosary that she took her last breath, in fact -- during the Glorious Mysteries, while the family was praying about the Ascension. Cardinal Maida and his other brother, Fr. Thaddeus Maida, concelebrated a Mass for the Dying in her room earlier that morning, with Daniel Maida doing the readings.
Although Cardinal Maida had the highest profile of her three sons, she also loved dearly and prayed for all three; Fr. Maida is parochial vicar and senior priest at Holy Child Parish in Bridgeville, Pa., near her home, and Daniel Maida has had an off-airport parking business and car wash nearby for nearly 30 years. Daniel Maida has three sons and five grandchildren, Sophie Maida's grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Also surviving is her 94-year-old sister, Stella.
Fr. Maida made daily visits to his mother, while Daniel Maida visited several times per week and Cardinal Maida tried to call every day to make sure that although she lived alone, with some assistance, she was not lonely. Nieces, nephews, grandchildren and great-grandchildren visited often, too.
"I try to brighten up her day with a little telephone conversation and keep in touch with her," he told The Michigan Catholic in 2005. "And I try to make it a point every month or six weeks to pay her a visit for a day or two."
Mrs. Maida was born Sophie Cieslak, the daughter of Polish immigrants, and at age 20 married Adam Maida, who had emigrated from Poland at age 16 and had boarded across the street from her. He was nearly 20 years her senior, and married him against the advice of friends and even the family priest. She reasoned that her future husband would love her and take care of her. And he did until the day he died in 1961, Fr. Maida told The Michigan Catholic in 2006.
She and her husband raised their family in East Vandergrift, Pa., a small community of Poles, Lithuanians and Slovaks and almost all were Catholic. It was a community where no one locked their doors and extended family was nearby. She gathered with other adults of the family on Saturday nights, while the children played together; Christmas and Easter were especially important family gathering times.
Sophie Maida was a homemaker all her life and was a daily communicant, walking to church as long as her health allowed her. She liked church music, classical opera music and some classical music, and loved watching "The Lawrence Welk Show" on television.
Although she never got the chance to visit the land of her ancestors, she did get the opportunity to visit Rome when her oldest son was elevated to cardinal in 1994. During that visit, she met and received a kiss from Pope John Paul II.
Cardinal Maida said his mother was a "good example" to others. "She was everything you'd want a mother to be," he said.
Fr. Maida agreed: "She taught me how to live so I could come close to God. She was a real witness to God -- the love and dedication she had to her husband, her children and her home."
Fr. Maida also pointed out that "Sophie" means "wisdom," which is appropriate because of how she imparted words of wisdom to people who would come and talk to her. She often helped people going through tough times, he said.
In a 2006 interview with The Michigan Catholic, Cardinal Maida said his parents were the "primary source" of his vocation. "My parents were always devout people of faith," he said. "Being a Depression kid, we knew all about poverty, we knew about jobs, and the difficulties people have."
A year earlier, he'd told The Michigan Catholic that he visited his mother every year on her birthday "just to thank her for the gift of life and I've thanked her for all she is," he said. "She's still in charge, and a great support, now especially in her prayers. She's a very saintly woman who prays much and often and deeply, and I'm glad to be on her prayer list."
A Saturday afternoon funeral is planned at Our Lady of Grace Church in Scott Township, Pa.
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