Marie Louise Foerst was born November 2, 1897 in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Her parents were Julius Franz Foerst (Frank) and Caroline Lange, both of Germany. She and some others in her family changed the spelling of "Foerst" to Forest. Marie was the 14th of 15 children. Her oldest brother, Gus, a violin maker, ran away to California at age 16 so Marie never met him. When Marie was a child, her father gambled away the family home and farm in Mt. Pleasant. She remembers him as a tyrant. He had red hair and a red beard, and snuck into the house to yell and demand that the children do unpleasant chores. Marie graduated from high school in New Baltimore, then had six months of "Normal" training to be a teacher. Her college later became known as Eastern Michigan University. The teacher training was paid for by Marie's sister Emma, who was working as a nurse and financially able to help. In 1918, the influenza outbreak caused many deaths. Marie caught the illness and quickly took the trolley from Detroit back home to New Baltimore. She fell into a coma and almost died, but in the care of her mother, she managed to survive the illness. Marie may have worked as a teacher in New Baltimore, but teaching jobs were hard to come by. She found work at a Ford auto plant, where she became friends with a woman by the name of "Cousin." Cousin introduced her to Wilfred Churchill, whom she married on September 17, 1925. They had two children, a son and a daughter. Marie was always self-conscious about her height. She was about 5' 11." Her husband was about 5' 8" tall. When Marie had her picture taken, she took every opportunity to be shown in a seated position, or to avoid standing up straight. Marie was an excellent cook. She could make cookies without measuring any of the ingredients. Near the end of her life, she suffered from Parkinsons Disease. She lived with her daughter in Gainsville, Florida for six years, and then three years in a nursing home. She died March 25, 1990. She is entombed next to her husband at Gulf Pines Memorial Park in Englewood, Florida.