When Mary Lyle Wills was born on 1 May 1905, in Harrodsburg, Mercer, Kentucky, United States, her father, Edward George Wills, was 32 and her mother, Sudie Bell Mattingly, was 24. She had at least 2 sons and 1 daughter with John Wesley Speaks. She lived in Anderson Township, Hamilton, Ohio, United States in 1940 and Hamilton, Ohio, United States in 1974. She died on 5 February 1974, in Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States, at the age of 68, and was buried in Withamsville, Clermont, Ohio, United States.