Maia Leikina

Maia Leikina, 96, passed away on February 22, 2024.

Maia lived an extraordinary life marked by her resilience, enduring many challenges and hardships. She was born on May 1, 1927 into a family of doctors in the Belarusian city of Gomel to Bella Borisovna Lokshtanova and Mark Iosifovich Livshits. Six children made up their large family.

At 12 years old, tragedy struck when her father Mark was arrested under false pretense during the Stalin-era purges. She never saw him again. He spent 14 years in labor camps, where he’d die in 1953 from illness.

At the beginning of World War II, Maia lived in Leningrad with her family. In September 1941, the city was surrounded, and Maia found herself with her brothers and sisters in a besieged Leningrad, where they lived until the evacuation in April 1942.

After the war, Maia returned to Leningrad with her family. There, she completed four out of her five courses at the Economics Faculty of the Shipbuilding University, all while working at the university library.

Subsequently, Maia met her future husband Leonid in 1951. They got married in March 1952 and would live together for 58 years, until Leonid's death in October 2010.

Maia and Leonid had two sons, Boris and Yury, born in 1952 and 1955. Upon the birth of their second child, she halted her education at the university to fulfill the demands of a busy family and work life.

Maia devoted her entire career to two manufacturing firms where she worked for nearly 40 years, dealing with finances and accounting in managerial positions.

After retiring in 1992, and at the age of 64, she and her husband embarked on a new life in the United States where they joined their oldest son Boris.

Maia is preceded in death by her husband Leonid and son Boris. She is survived by her son Yury, and grandsons Alex and German.

A graveside service is scheduled for 2 pm at the Kol Ami Cemetery, 1021 E 4th Avenue, Salt Lake City, Utah.  Maia will be buried next to her husband Leonid.   

There will be a viewing prior to the graveside at 12:45 pm at the City View Memorial, 1001 E 11th Avenue, Salt Lake City, Utah