When Ethel Lenor Wollpert was born in 1903, in Montcalm, Michigan, United States, her father, Erwin H. Wollpert, was 23 and her mother, Bessie G. Joseph, was 17. She married Adolph Darwin Shay on 17 September 1921, in Flint, Genesee, Michigan, United States. She lived in Flushing, Genesee, Michigan, United States in 1930 and Port Huron, St. Clair, Michigan, United States in 1940. She died in 1986, in Michigan, United States, at the age of 83, and was buried in Lakeport, Burtchville Township, St. Clair, Michigan Territory, United States.