When Ethel Marie Spires was born on 28 December 1900, in Lexington, South Carolina, United States, her father, Lawrence Keitt Spires, was 35 and her mother, Mary Ellen Barrs, was 20. She married Fred Elijah Yon on 14 October 1922, in Pelion, Lexington, South Carolina, United States. She lived in Black Creek Township, Lexington, South Carolina, United States in 1920 and Bull Swamp Township, Lexington, South Carolina, United States in 1940. She died on 3 September 1979, in Swansea, Lexington, South Carolina, United States, at the age of 78, and was buried in Pelion, Lexington, South Carolina, United States.