Marlene (Haas) Kolling was born on May 29, 1942, to Joseph and Eva Haas. She was the 6th of 8 children born into the family. She grew up and attended school in Lefor, ND where her family had a farm. Marlene loved reading and going to dances. She met and married the love of her life, George F. Kolling, who was from Dickinson, ND. They were married on July 12, 1961, while George was in the Air Force. George and Marlene had raised three children; George who they called, Butch, Laurie and Neil. Their eldest son, Butch was born in Rapid City, SD while George was in the Air Force; Laurie and Neil were born in Dickinson, where they resided after George got out of the service. The family moved to Glendive, MT in 1975. In 1976, Marlene started work at the Burlington Northern Credit Union and was eventually the Manager of the Credit Union until she retired in 2004. After retiring, she and George moved to Bismarck, to be closer to Laurie and her children.