When Christine E. Ellis was born on 11 August 1906, in Greenwich, Huron, Ohio, United States, her father, Harry Franklin Ellis, was 28 and her mother, Mary Bertha Leonard, was 25. She married Howard Dewitt Willits on 16 June 1928, in Cuyahoga, Ohio, United States. She lived in Columbus, Franklin, Ohio, United States for about 5 years and Portland City Election Precinct 222, Multnomah, Oregon, United States in 1940. She died on 3 January 1983, in Multnomah, Oregon, United States, at the age of 76.