When Velma Harrel was born on 16 September 1909, in Douglas, Oregon, United States, her father, Forn Neal Harrel, was 26 and her mother, Emma Angeline Allen, was 22. She lived in Cow Creek, Douglas, Oregon, United States for about 20 years and Cow Creek Election Precinct, Douglas, Oregon, United States in 1940. She died about October 1989, in Glendale, Douglas, Oregon, United States, at the age of 80, and was buried in Cottage Grove, Lane, Oregon, United States.