Eleanor Friedly was born June 30, 1927 in Blissfield, Michigan to Lester and Velma Klump. She was the eldest of three girls. Graduated 1944 from Blissfield High School in Blissfield, Michigan., she continued her education at Toledo Beauty College. While living in Toledo she met and married Ron Friedly on June 22, 1949 and they then moved to Boise, Idaho that same year.