When Gertrude Toppari was born on 8 June 1912, in Hancock, Houghton, Michigan, United States, her father, August William Toppari, was 37 and her mother, Marie Evelyn Lintula, was 27. She married Antoine Fournier on 1 August 1946, in Silver Bow, Montana, United States. She lived in Butte, Silver Bow, Montana, United States for about 20 years. She died on 17 July 1980, at the age of 68.