When Mary Louisa Brakefield was born on 19 October 1903, in Santiago, Sherburne, Minnesota, United States, her father, John Samuel Brakefield, was 32 and her mother, Esther Nancy Allen, was 27. She married Claude James Milward on 20 April 1927, in Montrose, Dane, Wisconsin, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons and 2 daughters. She lived in Fallon, Montana, United States for about 5 years and Green Bluff Township, Spokane, Washington, United States in 1940. She died on 15 October 1965, in Colbert, Spokane, Washington, United States, at the age of 61, and was buried in Spokane, Spokane, Washington, United States.