Maria A. Sayles

Maria A. Sayles, of La Jolla, CA, died on Saturday, January 28, 2012 in California.

Maria Agripina Popescu Sayles was born 9/20/1918 in Craiova, Romania to Dumitru Popescu, head of the Romanian Orthodox church of their province, and Elena Staiculescu, a teacher who died when Maria was 3.

Maria, also known as Pina, graduated University of Bucharest before fleeing Communism after WWII. She arrived in New York's Ellis Island in 1950, and with minimal English was able to become couture director at Elizabeth Arden and in 1958 married Philip A. Sayles Jr., who was a senior executive with Macy's corporation.

Maria and Philip had one daughter, Carina and later left New York for 20 years in Houston, TX where Maria was instrumental in the IIE (International Institute for Education) and in the development of both the Houston Ballet and the Alley Theater, and later for as many years in Santa Fe, New Mexico where Maria volunteered with local museums. Active in real estate, Maria acquired land in Montauk, NJ, farms in Flemington and in Rosemont, NJ as well as a cattle ranch in Colorado where she spent much time.

For the last years of her life, Maria lived in La Jolla, CA where she earned a position as one of the Daughters of the King of the Episcopal Church, and was dedicated to her involvement with the St. James of the Sea Episcopal Church.

She died of natural causes in La Jolla on January 28, 2012 at age 93. She is survived by her daughter Carina Sayles, partner in a NYC public relations firm, and two grandchildren, Wells and Olivia Hartman, to whom she was dedicated and who feel her loss deeply, as does her large circle of close friends to whom she was a spirited, fascinating and engaging presence.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday at 2 PM in Trinity Episcopal Chapel, Solebury, PA. Interment will be in Rosemont Cemetery, Rosemont, NJ under the direction of the Holcombe-Fisher Funeral Home, 147 Main Street, Flemington, NJ. There will be no calling hours.

Please visit www.holcombefisher.com for further information or to send condolences.