When Ester Kristina Gärdvall was born on 26 September 1913, in Oviken, Jämtland, Sweden, her father, Per Erik Gärdvall, was 32 and her mother, Olga Maria Hermansson, was 21. She married Gustav Adolf Karlberg on 1 December 1940, in Jämtland, Sweden. They were the parents of at least 1 daughter. She died on 21 May 2002, in Sundsvall, Västernorrland, Sweden, at the age of 88, and was buried in Frösö, Jämtland, Sweden.