Maria is the eighth child of Barend Jacobus Stander and Anna Sophia Frederica de Swardt. While Heese's genealogical treatise on South African genealogy omits her name, she is indeed baptised at George in the NG church on 17 April 1836.

She marries Pieter Johannes Ernst Booyens as first husband and they have three children. The first, a daughter named Anna Sophia for Maria's mother, dies young, but they have another daughter and a son. Pieter dies in very early 1897 and "Miem", as she is known, remarries later that year to a second cousin of Pieter by the name of Barend Matthys Booyens. Barend is a widower, but most of his children are mature. Miem must make an impact on her stepchildren, because they actually name some of their children after her. This is a rare phenomenon indeed.

Around 1897 her daughter's husband buys the farm Venterskloof along with Miem's new husband. Two generations and three different branches of the greater Booyens family now live on that farm, nestled inside the Great Swartberg range.

Despite the fact that her second (and now only) daughter is the first of her two children to marry in 1893, it is in fact the wife of her only son, Petrus Johannes, who produces the first granddaughter to be given Maria's name in 1899. Maria attends that baptism. As per the custom, with the arrival of Petrus eldest daughter bearing the distinctive triple name of "Maria Susanna Jacoba", Miem duly becomes "Groot Miem Venterskloof".

In 1904 Barend Matthys dies and Miem signs the two death notices. And then she simply disappears from all records....

After eight years of searching and excellent help from other genealogists, her much later 1920 death notice has finally been discovered. We find out that she dies not on Venterskloof, but at Rietvley in the care of her only son, Petrus Johannes, who signs the death notice. Since the family farm Olyvenhoutskloof is right outside Dysselsdorp, we conclude the fact that the death notice is submitted at Dysselsdorp and signed by her only son, Pieter Johannes, implies that she died on Olyvenhoutskloof, part of the greater "Rietvlei".