Richard “Dick” Dean Clarens was born to Frank and Elizabeth “Bessie” (Overn) Clarens on August 12, 1930, in Valley City, ND. He was raised in many different North Dakota towns (including Sanborn, Embden, and Kathryn) because his father was a depot agent. As a toddler he resided for a time in the Embden depot, which is now located in Bonanzaville Pioneer Village in West Fargo, ND. Growing up, he spent a lot of time with his grandparents, Nick and Rose Clarens, in Sanborn, ND. Dick considered Alice, ND, home and graduated from Enderlin High School in 1948. After the death of his father in 1955, his widowed mother married Ervin Murray in 1958.