Sammlung PP - LaVerna Klippenstein fonds

LaVerna Klippenstein (Reimer) was born in 1936 in Steinbach, Manitoba to mother Maria (b. 1899) and father Peter Reimer (b. 1904). LaVerna attended the local schools of Steinbach until her completion of grade twelve in 1953. After a year of schooling at the age of 18 Klippenstein became a teacher and worked in Glenella until the age of 22. In 1956 Klippenstein married her husband Lawrence. The pair moved to Matheson Island, Manitoba to work with the community with Mennonite Pioneer Mission soon after their wedding. LaVerna and Lawrence also lived in Goshen, Indiana where she completed her Bachelor of Arts. In Minneapolis, Minnesota LaVerna took classes in special education while teaching at the Kenny Institute for the physically disabled, while also raising their four children. In 1971 the Klippenstein family returned to Winnipeg, where Lawrence took employment as archivist at the Mennonite Heritage Centre in 1974. During this time LaVerna taught Sunday school and continued her own Christian education research. With her research, LaVerna regularly published articles in "Christian Living" Magazine, The "Mennonite Reporter" and "Rejoice" to name a few. For thirty years LaVerna continued to publish articles while also doing a great deal of travelling. From 1984 to 1993 LaVerna lived in England, Russia and Germany on sabbaticals with Mennonite Church Canada while also travelling periodically to Cuba and the United States. In 2004 LaVerna suffered a stroke, which rendered her reading and writing skills until her death in 2014.