Her father was a piano tuner and musician from Germany, and her older brother William Klaiss was a theatre organist.

[3] She trained at the Leefson-Hille Conservatory in Philadelphia with Maurits Leefson [nl], and with organists Ralph Kinder and Walter Baker.

[6][7] "Miss Klaiss has become a recognized attraction in the theatre," reported Musical Courier in 1927, "and she attributes her success not only to what and how she plays, but to how she attires herself as well.

[13][14] She played at USO shows for the troops in Europe during and after World War II,[4][15] on radio programs,[16] and at hotels and clubs on the New Jersey shore.

[19][20] In her later years, she was based in Florida, where she continued as a church organist[21][22] and gave recitals and concerts in the 1950s and 1960s.