Hazel Mae Bowden was born on February 22, 1922. She married Hershell Wade on November 30, 1939, and had one son, James Hedges. The couple divorced and in 1950 she married Charles William Hedges. She moved from Kansas City to Las Vegas with her husband and son in 1952. She worked briefly as a waitress in the dining room at the Thunderbird and then became a stay at home mother until her son was in junior high school. Then after she went to real estate school, she went to work in commercial real estate at Bond Realty.

Muriel Stevens (1925-2016) is a former newspaper columnist, author, chef, and radio and television host. Born December 22, 1925 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1954. Stevens is known for her radio and television shows, which focused on food, nutrition, and consumer issues. She hosted a one hour daily radio talk show for eight years before moving to television, where celebrity guests joined her on The Muriel Stevens Show to cook their favorite meals.