Marialice Schmitt Bennett was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. Her mother, raised in an orphanage, gave her the gifts of perseverance and the love of music; her dad, raised

Milton Oscar Lustnauer, Sr. was born on October 2, 1917. He had two brothers, Harold and Al, and a sister Bernice. Harold died at the age of twelve from tuberculosis.

Howard Owen Merriman was born May13,1933 in Columbus, Ohio. He spent his early life on the Hilltop, first residing on Sutton Avenue and then moving to a new house built