Daughter of Cara Faulds and Pepper Patton, sister of Patricia, granddaughter of Margaret Mergelman. Attended Colby Community College in Kansas, as well as Western State. (source: Cattlemen's Days 1995 Newspaper Insert)
Sister of Margo (Source: Cattlemen's Days 1997 Newspaper Insert)
She was a teacher at several elementary schools in Grand Junction, Colorado, including the Bryant School and Riverside School. She later became the principal of the Washington School, which she helped design.