Anna Bernhardina Hedman was born in 1895 to Swedish migrants, Charles Eric and Anna Mathilda Hedman, in Kittson County, Minnesota. Hedman and her six siblings lived on the family farm in Guthrie Township, Minnesota. After graduating from high school, Hedman became a teacher at various schools in northern Minnesota. She married Lester Brenneman in December of 1920 after a seven-year-long correspondence and moved to Webster City, Iowa, where she would become a homemaker and bookkeeper for the Chevrolet dealership. The Brennemans had three children: Charles, Florence, and Faye. Anna Hedman Brenneman passed away in 1977 in Webster City, Iowa.

Lester Hertzler Brenneman was born in 1885 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, to farmers Lemuel and Florence Brenneman. Brenneman worked in various manufacturing and automotive industries from 1905 to 1917 in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Iowa. In 1907, Brenneman purchased land in northern Minnesota and spent occasional winters there until he sold the land. In 1913, Brenneman met Anna Hedman and began a years-long correspondence. In 1917, Brenneman enlisted in the Army to fight in World War I and served in France and Belgium. When Brenneman returned, Brenneman and Hedman began a romantic relationship and were married in December of 1920. They moved to Webster City, Iowa, and had three children (Charles, Florence, and Faye). Lester Brenneman passed away in 1983 in Webster City, Iowa.