When Donald Otto Strehlow was born on 15 June 1914, in Goldfield, Teller, Colorado, United States, his father, Otto T. Strehlow, was 32 and his mother, Minnie Thomas, was 20. He married Willa Etta Watkins on 23 December 1942, in Sheridan, Sheridan, Wyoming, United States. He lived in Denver, Colorado, United States for about 15 years and Election District 1, Sheridan, Wyoming, United States in 1940. He died on 4 January 1969, in Sheridan, Sheridan, Wyoming, United States, at the age of 54, and was buried in Sheridan, Sheridan, Wyoming, United States.