Marilyn Armstrong graduated high school and beautician school at the same time having attended beauty school from 2:00 until 9:00 or 10:00 in the evening. Her ambitious strides paid off with hair styling positions on the Strip at Caesars Palace, Miss Elizabeth's, and Under Your Hat prior to owning her own shop at Flamingo and Maryland Parkway. Her clientele included entertainers, high profile Las Vegas business owners, and locals from the Westside.

Emory and Agnes Lockette met while they were both in college; she in Albany, Georgia, and he in Dawson, Georgia. He studied architectural and structural engineering. They secretly married in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1949 and moved to Boulder City in 1953 where they were the only African Americans during a time of tense race relations. She earned graduate degrees, including a doctorate in early childhood education, at UNLV. Initially, Mrs.