Gaida Margarieta Klavina, age 96, of Kalamazoo, passed away Saturday, February 28, 2026.

Gaida was born May 12, 1929, at Lambarti in Ramulu pagasts near Cesis, Latvia, to Janis Voldemars and Erna Albertina (Karklina) Evele. As a young teenager during World War II, she fled her homeland with her family. On June 23, 1948, she married Janis Klavins in a Displaced Persons camp in Germany, her husband of 67 years, who preceded her in death in 2015.

In 1949, on her 20th birthday, she immigrated to the United States with her mother, her 15-year-old brother Zigurds, and her husband, arriving in New Orleans aboard the USS General Omar Bundy. The family later made their home in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Michigan.

Gaida was a woman of strength, duty, and conviction. Though small in stature, she carried herself with dignity and resolve. She believed work should be done properly and gave her best effort in all she undertook. She was devoted to her family, her faith, and to preserving Latvian culture and tradition.

She and her husband were active in the Latvian community, supporting the church and participating in song festivals and cultural events. She was an accomplished cook and baker, known for her tortes and for her handcrafted cibas, having made and sold more than one thousand pairs through the annual
Latvian Christmas Bazaar.

Through her strength and steadfastness, she carried her homeland across an ocean and secured its place in the generations that followed.

She is survived by her daughter, Sandra (Steve) Maslen of Richland; her son, Andis Klavins of South Haven; her grandchildren, Karmene Praviete, Laila Klavins, and Andis Klavins; and her great-granddaughter, Samantha Praviete.

Gaida will be interred beside her husband at Woodlawn Cemetery in Grand Rapids.