When John Gordon Lightfoot was born on 13 February 1910, in Manard Precinct, Blaine, Idaho, United States, his father, John Pendleton Lightfoot, was 26 and his mother, Laura Mary Laird, was 34. He married Gertrude Mabel Wilkin on 11 August 1934, in Helena, Lewis and Clark, Montana, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son. He lived in Glasgow, Valley, Montana, United States in 1935 and School District 21 South Galpin, Valley, Montana, United States in 1940. He died on 27 November 1978, in Arlington, Virginia, United States, at the age of 68.