When Haldis Dissington Johnsen was born on 15 March 1905, in Sandstrand, Sortland Prestegjeld, Nordland, Norway, her father, Nordahl Ludvig Johnsen, was 37 and her mother, Nanna Gerhardine Nilsen, was 37. She died on 5 December 1979, in Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway, at the age of 74, and was buried in Ranheim, Sør-Trøndelag, Norway.