Maria Eigerman
1944-07-08 2020-09-28Maria Révész Eigerman
Columbus, OH - Former Newburyport resident Maria Révész Eigerman died at home from glioblastoma, on September 28.
Maria was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., to Mary (Topor) Révész, of Detroit, Mich., and Coloman Révész of Kassa, Hungary. Her mother was a teacher and librarian; her father was president of the William Penn Fraternal Association and chairman of the American Hungarian Federation.
Maria graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School (Pa.) and from Radcliffe College three years later. In between, she married Joel Eigerman, then of New York, N.Y., her best friend from Cambridge.
Careers for women were limited. Maria started editing history textbooks for Houghton Mifflin Co., under D'Arcy Van Bokkelen of Newburyport. She, her husband, and their toddler daughter moved to Fair Street, drawn by the city's history, faded beauty, and affordability.
A "carpetbagger" during Newburyport's urban renewal, Maria was an active citizen and volunteer. Through the Greater Newburyport League of Women Voters, she organized a symposium in 1969 on the nuclear station proposed at Seabrook, N.H. She and her children attended the First Religious Society (UU), and she served on the parish board.
Maria's first marriage ended quickly. While raising her two young children she started a career in environmental and strategic planning, first at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, and later consulting. Her early projects included building wastewater treatment plants upriver from Newburyport.
Maria left town decades ago for a job near Cleveland, Ohio. When the Soviet Bloc collapsed, she moved again, this time to Budapest, Hungary, working on economic development and democratization. She remarried to the late György Libik, returned from exile in Sweden.
Widowed in Hungary, Maria came back to Newburyport for her daughter's wedding. She reconnected with old friends, including the late Harold F. Humphrey Jr. of Salisbury. They married and lived happily in Haverhill and Ft. Myers, Fla.
Maria was a voracious student of history, an unforgiving critic of malfeasance, and startlingly articulate. She owned property on Plum Island, mostly open sand, for 44 years, only selling due to her illness. She loved the island, ocean, rivers, and salt marshes.
Maria was fortunate to survive over two years after her brain surgery. She was robbed of her eloquence, but her mind kept rewiring itself to restore speech, until cancer overwhelmed her.
She is survived by her daughter Hannah Eigerman, her son-in-law Sean O'Sullivan, and their children Rory and Eve O'Sullivan, all of Columbus; and by her son Jared Eigerman, her daughter-in-law Andrea (Gaut) Eigerman, and their children Imre and Beatrix Eigerman, all of Newburyport.
Services will be private. Donations in Maria's memory may be made to League of Women Voters of Massachusetts (http://lwvma.org/donate/).
Maria was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., to Mary (Topor) Révész, of Detroit, Mich., and Coloman Révész of Kassa, Hungary. Her mother was a teacher and librarian; her father was president of the William Penn Fraternal Association and chairman of the American Hungarian Federation.
Maria graduated from Mt. Lebanon High School (Pa.) and from Radcliffe College three years later. In between, she married Joel Eigerman, then of New York, N.Y., her best friend from Cambridge.
Careers for women were limited. Maria started editing history textbooks for Houghton Mifflin Co., under D'Arcy Van Bokkelen of Newburyport. She, her husband, and their toddler daughter moved to Fair Street, drawn by the city's history, faded beauty, and affordability.
A "carpetbagger" during Newburyport's urban renewal, Maria was an active citizen and volunteer. Through the Greater Newburyport League of Women Voters, she organized a symposium in 1969 on the nuclear station proposed at Seabrook, N.H. She and her children attended the First Religious Society (UU), and she served on the parish board.
Maria's first marriage ended quickly. While raising her two young children she started a career in environmental and strategic planning, first at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission, and later consulting. Her early projects included building wastewater treatment plants upriver from Newburyport.
Maria left town decades ago for a job near Cleveland, Ohio. When the Soviet Bloc collapsed, she moved again, this time to Budapest, Hungary, working on economic development and democratization. She remarried to the late György Libik, returned from exile in Sweden.
Widowed in Hungary, Maria came back to Newburyport for her daughter's wedding. She reconnected with old friends, including the late Harold F. Humphrey Jr. of Salisbury. They married and lived happily in Haverhill and Ft. Myers, Fla.
Maria was a voracious student of history, an unforgiving critic of malfeasance, and startlingly articulate. She owned property on Plum Island, mostly open sand, for 44 years, only selling due to her illness. She loved the island, ocean, rivers, and salt marshes.
Maria was fortunate to survive over two years after her brain surgery. She was robbed of her eloquence, but her mind kept rewiring itself to restore speech, until cancer overwhelmed her.
She is survived by her daughter Hannah Eigerman, her son-in-law Sean O'Sullivan, and their children Rory and Eve O'Sullivan, all of Columbus; and by her son Jared Eigerman, her daughter-in-law Andrea (Gaut) Eigerman, and their children Imre and Beatrix Eigerman, all of Newburyport.
Services will be private. Donations in Maria's memory may be made to League of Women Voters of Massachusetts (http://lwvma.org/donate/).
Published on September 30, 2020
Ah Maria, It is a special person you were. Obviously very bright--enough to go to Radcliffe College (aka Harvard College) before women could be full members of a Harvard class. Then graduating in three years! We reconnected for our 50th Reunion. Naturally, Maria had more in mind than partying. She recruited a group of us to give back to the class of 2012 by organizing an event with many moving parts. The highlight was putting us in teams of two to share our life experiences with Seniors and Juniors. What a good idea, Maria. I kept in touch with her as she fought through her cancer. She maintained her spirit. I expected no less. Rest in Peace, Lady.
tribute by Tom Doorley