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Maria Mitea

Maria Mitea at the office

Like many of our co-workers, Maria Mitea, Member Service Representative at our Thunder Bay branch hails from Eastern Europe. Uniquely among our staff, she was born in Moldova, which, for those who are not terribly familiar with the geography of that part of the world is tucked in between southern Ukraine and Romania.

Maria comes from a large family and has five sisters and four brothers. Family is a source of happiness for Maria, “my family makes me feel strong and never alone in this big world,” she says. As was the custom of the former Soviet Union, her mother and father were awarded golden medals titled “Hero Mother of Ten Children” and “Hero of Labour” respectively, for having such a large family.

Maria’s parents put a high value on education and were able to see all of their children attend institutes of higher learning. Maria herself has a degree from the Pedagogical University of Moldova and a second degree in Engineering and Production System Management from the University of Transylvania in Romania.

While in Romania, Maria worked as a translator for a company in the diamond industry. It was a “cool job” as Maria puts it, “I had diamonds in my pockets all the time!”

Among her other interests, Maria has been practicing yoga for many years and plans to eventually visit the Yoga Institute in Pune, India and perhaps obtain a teaching certificate from this institute. She also enjoys rock climbing, a sport that she discovered through the Canada Alpine Climbing Club in Thunder Bay. She says that membership in the club has allowed her to see Canada from a new and exciting perspective. This winter she plans to try ice climbing with the club.

As a child, Maria used to dream of becoming an opera singer. Now she sings selections from La Traviata to her children. Who knows, maybe one of them will one day sing on the world’s opera stages? Maria also likes cooking and gardening. She considers her garden to be a “little paradise,” and is willing to trade gardening tips (or plants) with other avid horticulturalists. Her current project is growing hardy roses that can survive the northern climate of Thunder Bay.

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