When Florence Lillian Thompson was born on 5 September 1912, in Chehalis, Lewis, Washington, United States, her father, Peter F. Thompson, was 51 and her mother, Katie Jane Barker, was 30. She married James S. Van Cleve on 2 June 1932, in Clark, Washington, United States. She lived in Forest, Lewis, Washington, United States for about 10 years. She died on 14 August 1991, in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, United States, at the age of 78, and was buried in Napavine, Lewis, Washington, United States.