Teacher, librarian, and writer Clarabelle H. Decker was born Clarabelle Douglas in Bellevue, Colorado on November 03, 1900. She and her family moved to Oatman, Arizona, where Decker attended Northern Arizona State Teachers College (now Northern Arizona University) and received her Bachelor of Arts degree. She later earned a Master of Arts degree in English and School Supervision from the University of Washington, and a degree in library sciences from the University of Southern California.