Lewella Christiansen was born in Wales, Utah, in 1900, to Thomas Rees and Sarah Johnson. Her family history comes from Welsh pioneers members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Lewella attended Brigham Young University for two years before World War I, after which she finished her education at Snow College. She met her husband ElRay Christiansen while teaching in Gunnison, Utah, and they were married in 1922. Lewella and ElRay lived in Utah for most of their lives, with some time spent presiding over missionaries in Texas. ElRay worked for the seminary program of the church, and later became a general authority, running the Salt Lake Temple and then becoming the coordinator of all temples. ElRay died in 1975, and Lewella died June 2, 1976, in Salt Lake City, Utah.

John R. Christiansen was born in Wales, Utah, on August 17, 1927, to Elray Lavar Christiansen and Lewella Ann Rees Christiansen. He served as an aviation cadet in the United States Navy from 1945 to 1947. He earned a bachelor's degree from Utah State University in 1949 and a master's degree in 1952, and he received a doctorate degree in sociology from the University of Wisconsin in 1955. John R. Christiansen married Lucele Kartchner Christiansen on September 18, 1951, in Logan, Utah. Together they had five children. He lectured at the University of Kentucky for two years before becoming a member of the Brigham Young University faculty, gaining full professorial status in 1964. Christiansen stayed on as professor of sociology and social work until his retirement in 1997. Throughout his career, he received numerous research grants, wrote forty-two books and pamphlets, and published and presented over seventy articles. John R. Christiansen passed away on March 16, 2001 at his home in Provo, Utah.