When Thelma Loraine Turner was born on 2 January 1921, in Alabama, United States, her father, William Washington Turner, was 31 and her mother, Alma Gilbert, was 29. She married William Braxton Peterson on 15 August 1936, in Alabama, United States. She lived in Walker, Alabama, United States in 1935 and Election Precinct 21 Ebenezer (Quinton), Walker, Alabama, United States in 1940. She died on 17 June 1992, at the age of 71, and was buried in Dora, Walker, Alabama, United States.