BY JOANNE DOWNES (with additional text from the Regier family) | Prominent longtime Chelsea resident and community activist Hilda Mae Regier passed away during the early morning hours of Feb. 15, 2026, at Kidron Bethel Healthcare (a care facility in Kansas), where she had resided for the past three years.

Born in 1934 in Goessel, KS, parents Theodore and Anna Voth Regier gave Hilda her middle name–Mae–to mark that she’d been born on the first of May. She attended school in Walton, KS. After graduating from high school, she earned a B.A from Bethel College in North Newton, then attended Iowa State University, earning her MA degree in journalism and staying to pursue a PhD. At the end of her first semester, she heeded advice to gain practical experience in New York City. It was the experience of a lifetime: Hilda fell in love with the city, and would build a life there.

Hilda came to New York City after graduate school to pursue a career in journalism. Choosing initially to work in the trade press, she eventually became an award-winning writer for medical journals and, later, worked as a freelance journalist.

Hilda was active in many Chelsea organizations. In 1973, as president of the Council of Chelsea Block Associations, she successfully led community opposition to the US Postal Service’s proposed $35 million, 15-story vehicular maintenance facility.

In 1975, she was one of the founding members of Chelsea Community Church, for which she would write and distribute the newsletter and coordinate the logistics that brought pastors and guest speakers to preach to the congregation  She also became a member of Community Board 4, and for a time served as its Chair.

In 1977, Hilda purchased an 1847 brownstone in Chelsea, painstakingly restoring the Victorian details of the main floor apartment which became her home. Hilda spent many happy hours tending the garden she created behind her brownstone. She delighted in spring bulbs as they appeared and the red rose that would bloom beside her front stoop. The sapling white dogwood she planted is now majestic–and the garden that surrounds it remains a soothing green oasis.

Hilda’s strong preservationist values would find purpose through her membership in Save Chelsea and her many years on the board of the Victorian Society of NY (serving as Society President from 2014 to 2017).

Family was important to Hilda, and she returned to KS for visits whenever she was able. She took great delight in her nephews. As various grandnephews and grandnieces appeared she was always keen to know what they were doing.

Hilda is predeceased by Elma Ruth Harms and Marvin Regier. She leaves behind sister-in-law Grace Nickel Regier, nephew Wayne Harms and Barbara, nephew Larry Harms and Mary, niece Sherry Unruh and Bill Unruh, and niece Vickie Schmidt and Emil Schmidt.

Chelsea Community Church has announced a memorial service, to be held on Sunday, April 19, 1pm, at St. Peter’s Church (346 W. 20th St.), where all Chelsea Community Church services take place.

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