Vija Klīve
(née Siksna, born 1944 in Rīga) – deacon emerita
Vija was only six weeks old when she and her parents fled Latvia. The family lived in displaced persons (DP) camps in Germany before emigrating to the United States. Vija studied modern languages at Knox College, earned a master’s degree in French literature at Northwestern University, and a degree in library science at Columbia University. While living in New York, she was active in the Latvian community, especially in the organization Baltic Appeal to the United Nations (BATUN).
Together with her husband, theologian, philosopher, and pastor Visvaldis Varnesis Klīve, she experienced missionary visits to India as well as time in Africa. These encounters with diverse cultures and religions shaped her into someone deeply open to other perspectives and ways of life.
Wanting to better understand the Church and to work more effectively alongside her husband, she took theological courses and in 1990 was ordained as a deacon in the United States. Vija served for several years at the Latvian congregation in Columbus, Ohio. After returning to Latvia in the early 1990s, she and her husband ministered at the congregation in Vecumnieki.
In Latvia, Vija also helped to revive the choir Dziesmuvara — the very choir where her parents had once met and in which she herself had sung. For more than ten years she led the Association of Latvian Lutheran Women Theologians, focusing especially on building international contacts with churches and ecumenical organizations and translating key documents to raise awareness about the situation of women’s (non-)ordination in Latvia.
Her life has been guided by a deep conviction of the need always to stand up for human rights. As a deacon, she sees herself as a facilitator who helps people along their path to God.
Vija Klīve died in Riga on 21 May 2026
Soft toy – Makss From the Klīve family’s hippopotamus figure collection.
I remember a conference in Bratislava, connected with the Association of Latvian Lutheran Women Theologians. We were asked to bring along an item important to us — in our spiritual lives or otherwise. I brought this little companion, a hippopotamus named Makss. In our family, we loved hippos, though that started before me. Maxi means ‘big,’ yet he is small and has traveled with me everywhere in my suitcase. Much loved, he is now a bit worn. A true friend, he reminds me of Jesus.
Vija Klīve
(née Siksna, born 1944 in Rīga) – deacon emerita
Vija was only six weeks old when she and her parents fled Latvia. The family lived in displaced persons (DP) camps in Germany before emigrating to the United States. Vija studied modern languages at Knox College, earned a master’s degree in French literature at Northwestern University, and a degree in library science at Columbia University. While living in New York, she was active in the Latvian community, especially in the organization Baltic Appeal to the United Nations (BATUN).
Together with her husband, theologian, philosopher, and pastor Visvaldis Varnesis Klīve, she experienced missionary visits to India as well as time in Africa. These encounters with diverse cultures and religions shaped her into someone deeply open to other perspectives and ways of life.
Wanting to better understand the Church and to work more effectively alongside her husband, she took theological courses and in 1990 was ordained as a deacon in the United States. Vija served for several years at the Latvian congregation in Columbus, Ohio. After returning to Latvia in the early 1990s, she and her husband ministered at the congregation in Vecumnieki.
In Latvia, Vija also helped to revive the choir Dziesmuvara — the very choir where her parents had once met and in which she herself had sung. For more than ten years she led the Association of Latvian Lutheran Women Theologians, focusing especially on building international contacts with churches and ecumenical organizations and translating key documents to raise awareness about the situation of women’s (non-)ordination in Latvia.
Her life has been guided by a deep conviction of the need always to stand up for human rights. As a deacon, she sees herself as a facilitator who helps people along their path to God.
Vija Klive passed away on May 21, 2026 in Riga.
Soft toy – Makss From the Klīve family’s hippopotamus figure collection.
“I remember a conference in Bratislava, connected with the Association of Latvian Lutheran Women Theologians. We were asked to bring along an item important to us — in our spiritual lives or otherwise. I brought this little companion, a hippopotamus named Makss. In our family, we loved hippos, though that started before me. Maxi means ‘big,’ yet he is small and has traveled with me everywhere in my suitcase. Much loved, he is now a bit worn. A true friend, he reminds me of Jesus.”
