Rose was originally born Rose Ella Lawson and was 2 years old when her mother, Ethel Misilda Detherow passed away from breast cancer in 1938. She was adopted by the Hardy family. Her sister and brother, Helen Dean and Robert Dale were adopted also and given the last name "Putting". She also had a younger sister, Lillian Olga Lawson who was taken in by an aunt of their mother's passing. The oldest, Gerald Lee Lawson was said to have run away, he was 12. Their birth father, Garland Glenwood Lawson, was unable to take care of them as he was an alcoholic. 470, Rose Ella Lawson Hardy Keesling