Mary Erma Nielsen was born 12 March 1905 in Moroni, Sanpete County, Utah. She went by her middle name, Erma, almost all of her life. She was the 7th child of Soren Severin Nielsen and Mary Ann Swensen. Soren and Mary had eight children.

Erma married Ellis Clark Ivory on 23 February 1926 in Nephi, Juab County, Utah. Together they had five children.

​She died on January 20, 1971, in St. George, Utah, at the age of 65, and was buried in her hometown.