Monroe Paxman was born on April 7, 1919 to Achsa Eggerston Paxman and William Monroe Paxman. In 1942, he married Shirley Brockbank. They have seven children. Paxman served as a judge on the 4th District Juvenile Court from 1953-1969. He also taught at Brigham Young University beginning in 1984, where he was awarded the Abraham O. Smoot Award. He helped to run the McCurdy Historical Doll Museum with his wife for twenty-five years. He was also instrumental in saving Academy Square.

Shirley Brockbank Paxman was born in 1919. She met her husband, Monroe Paxman, at a dance during high school. He left to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and she attended nursing school in Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. When Monroe returned, they married on December 18, 1942. Together they raised seven children. Shirley went on to earn a master's degree from Brigham Young University in child development and family relations. She spent her life serving the community. She and her husband were avid patrons of the arts and enjoyed attending the various functions throughout their community in Provo, Utah. She passed away a week after her 96th birthday on December 17, 2015.