Wilma Louise Garlough was born on March 5, 1915 in Springfield, Ohio, the daughter of Cloyd C. and Marian E. (Cleaveland) Smallwood. Wilma graduated from Springfield High School, class of 1933, and then graduated from Wittenberg University with a teaching degree. She taught for over twenty years at Pitchin School and Possum Elementary and raised 6 children in the Pitchin area.