Elizabeth Klippenstein was born in Morden, Manitoba, Canada. She married Donald Klippenstein on December 3, 1954. She belonged to the Mennonite Central Committee of the U.S. and worked with her husband in the hospital mission office, and the couple visited Korea as missionaries. She served as a branch manager of the Daegu branch and part-time nursing advisor at Dongsan Christian Hospital. She came to the hospital for several hours a day to serve as a nurse, and visited infant facilities to serve.

According to the Mennonite Central Committee to the Korean ministry, she guided groups of children to the United States for the adoption process of Korean children, and also influenced them to become one of the first couples to adopt Amerasian children.

Klippenstein missionary couple and their two sons

Elizabeth and Donald Klippenstein in Old Age