Marketa Newman was born in Prague, Czechoslovakia in 1918. She was married Arthur ("Bobek") Neumann (later changed to Newman), and had two children, Karel (changed to Charles or Chuck) and Eva. She and her family (at the time husband and son) were taken to the "model concentration camp", Terezin, in 1942. The family was not deported to Auschwitz due to the fact that Arthur was the only oral surgeon in the camp and the SS needed one for "decoration" purposes. Kajo (11 months when they arrived) was one of only 100 children who survived, out of 15,000 children who passed through Terezin. The family emigrated to Canada in 1949, first staying in Toronto, and settled in Saskatoon in September 1949. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Saskatchewan (English and French Literature) in 1962; and a Bachelor of Library Science degree from the University of Toronto in 1964. From 1964 until her retirement in 1985 she worked for the University of Saskatchewan Library in the cataloguing, acquisitions, and collection development departments. She was the author of Biographical Dictionary of Saskatchewan Artists - Women Artists (Saskatoon: Fifth House, 1990) and Biographical Dictionary of Saskatchewan Artists - Men Artists (Saskatoon: Fifth House, 1994). In 1997, largely in recognition of the dictionaries, she received an honorary degree from University of Saskatchewan; a Melva J. Dwyer Award from ARLIS Canada (Art Libraries Society of North America); and was one Saskatoon's Women of Distinction (YWCA). She died on 6 November 2000. When she died, she was nearing completion of a biographical dictionary of Saskatchewan folk artists.

Dr. Donald McKay Newton was born 23 June 1932 in Cardston, Alberta. He was a gifted athlete in boxing, track & field and especially basketball. After completing his BEd/PE in 1954 at the University of Alberta, he went on to earn an MSc from Brigham Young University in 1957 and an EdD from the University of Northern Colorado in 1969. He later coached at the University of Saskatchewan from 1962-1966 and the University of Calgary from 1967-1970. He taught at the University of Calgary and was named Professor Emeritus upon his retirement in 1987. Throughout his career he was a powerful spokesman for the Canadian Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (CAHPER), serving as national president from 1977 to 1978. He was honored with the Queen’s Medal for Outstanding Service and Leadership in 1977 and the R. Tait McKenzie Medal for Outstanding Service in 1980. Don Newton died 30 July 2019 in Sammamish, Washington at age 87.