Born in Higbee, Missouri, her mother Esther Brooks married William Garland of Enterprise in that town by a Baptist minister in July 1915.

Garland lived her life in Des Moines and later had a career as a clerk with the Des Moines Register & Tribune Syndicate. She assisted with the program for the installation of Rev. A. Ross Brent at Maple Street Baptist Church on April 27, 1928. She presumably continued to be a member of that church as her mother’s funeral services were held there in 1944. Garland seems to have converted to Catholicism as her funeral was held on March 12, 1973 at St. Ambrose Cathedral. She is buried in Glendale Cemetery, Des Moines, Iowa.