EXHIBIT 99.1

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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For:     MAF Bancorp, Inc.                 Contact:    Jerry A. Weberling,
         55th Street & Holmes Avenue                     Chief Financial Officer
         Clarendon Hills, IL 60514                     Michael J. Janssen,
                                                         Senior Vice President
         www.mafbancorp.com                            (630) 325-7300



                       MAF BANCORP, INC. TO PARTICIPATE IN
                  LEHMAN BROTHERS FINANCIAL SERVICES CONFERENCE

Clarendon Hills, Illinois, September 9, 2004 - MAF Bancorp, Inc. (MAFB),
announced that it will be participating in the Lehman Brothers 2004 Financial
Services Conference to be held in New York, NY on September 13-15, 2004. The
conference will be broadcast on the Internet at
http://customer.nvglb.com/LEHM002/091304a_rk/default.asp?entity-MAFBancorp and
will also be available through MAF's website at www.mafbancorp.com. Through the
websites, interested investors will have the opportunity to hear the
presentation by Allen Koranda, Chairman of the Board and CEO of MAF Bancorp and
Kenneth Koranda, President of MAF Bancorp, which is scheduled to be delivered on
Monday, September 13, 2004 at 2:00 p.m. Central Time. A replay of the
presentation will be available on the websites for approximately two weeks
following the conference.

MAF Bancorp is the parent company of Mid America Bank, a federally chartered
stock savings bank. The Bank currently operates a network of 67 retail banking
offices throughout Chicago and Milwaukee and their surrounding areas. Offices in
Wisconsin operate under the name "St. Francis Bank, a division of Mid America
Bank." The Company's common stock trades on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the
symbol MAFB.



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