Ethel Irene Young was born on February 12, 1908, near Kellogg, Iowa. She graduated from Newton High School in 1926 and began classes at the State University of Iowa in 1927. As a student, Harryman lived in Currier Hall and worked in the Office of the Registrar. She also started a typing service and hired students to assist her in her growing business. She received the Bachelor of Arts degree in June 1931, majoring in music and English.

After graduation, she taught vocal music and piano to grades one through twelve in Fairbank, Iowa. In fall 1932, she taught a music program in Blairstown, Iowa, for one year. She served as vocal instructor to students in grades three through twelve in the Delhi, Iowa, from 1933 to 1935.

In 1936 she married the principal of the Delhi school, Harold E. Harryman. While her husband completed his degree at Iowa State Teachers College (now the University of Northern Iowa), Ethel taught music at the high school in Jordan, Iowa. During World War II, the couple moved to Harold's boyhood farm in southeast Iowa, where they raised their son and two daughters, Marilyn and Shirley. Ethel Harryman died in December 2004.