When Marvin Zachariah Berch was born on 21 September 1915, in Persia, Harrison, Iowa, United States, his father, Zachariah Jonathan Berch, was 33 and his mother, Bertha Loretta McKee, was 24. He married Pauleen Goldie Phelps on 6 December 1938, in Pomona, Los Angeles, California, United States. He lived in Harrison, Iowa, United States in 1935 and Fontana Judicial Township, San Bernardino, California, United States in 1940. He died on 24 December 1970, in Lompoc, Santa Barbara, California, United States, at the age of 55, and was buried in Lompoc, Santa Barbara, California, United States.