Harold William Westbrook was born November 6, 1895, and died August 24, 1977. His father was Lucien H. Westbrook, a furniture dealer. His mother Emma was of German descent. Harold was raised in Centralia, Illinois, with his older sister Evelyn. He served during World War I as a switchboard operator and lineman in Battery F, 149th Field Artillery Battalion, 42nd “Rainbow” Division, and participated in four major campaigns: Champagne, Château Thierry, Saint-Mihiel, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. He was discharged in mid-1919 after staying in Europe as part of the United States Occupation Force. After the war, he married Irene and they had a son named William. He worked as a proprietor of a retail dry-goods store. Eugenia Cayce was born July 25, 1898, and died September 11, 1989. Her parents were Charles C. Cayce, who worked for the Shoe Travelers Association, and Clara Johnson. She had a sister named June. Eugenia was raised in Vienna, Illinois, where she met Harold early in her life, attending grammar school with him. Her family relocated to St. Louis before 1910. After graduating from Soldan High School in 1916, Eugenia worked as a clerk and a stenographer for the Missouri Pacific Railroad. In 1921, she married Edwin Roy Waldemer.