When Vera Lela Mullins was born on 28 May 1898, in Alexander, Erath, Texas, United States, her father, William Henry Mullins, was 32 and her mother, Sarah Perthenia Adkisson, was 29. She married John Terrell Shipman on 15 July 1916, in Duncan, Stephens, Oklahoma, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons. She lived in Comanche, Oklahoma, United States in 1935 and Hulen Township, Comanche, Oklahoma, United States in 1940. She died on 23 May 1995, in Lawton, Comanche, Oklahoma, United States, at the age of 96, and was buried in Lawton, Comanche, Oklahoma, United States.