Marilyn's mother, Gladys Pearl Baker Mortensen, was born on May 27, 1902, in Porfirio Díaz, Mexico, now Piedras Negras, to Otis Elmer Monroe and Della Mae Hogan.[4] The family returned to California where Gladys' brother Otis was born in 1905. Suffering from syphilis that had invaded his brain, Otis Elmer Monroe died on July 22 (aged 8 years), 1909 in Southern California State Hospital in San Bernardino County.[5] Gladys married Jasper Baker, a native of Kentucky, in May 1917 then they had two children, Robert Kermit Baker (born January 24, 1918) and Berniece Baker (Miracle) (born July 30, 1919). Both children were born in Los Angeles.[6][7] After Gladys and Jasper divorced, Jasper kidnapped the children and moved to Kentucky, where he had been born, according to Miracle's book My Sister Marilyn. Gladys moved there to be near her children, but later returned to Los Angeles. Her son died[when?][where?] without ever seeing her again; however she managed to reunite with her daughter many years later. Gladys died on March 11, 1984, in Gainesville, Florida, aged 81 years.

Gladys Mortensen