Ella Larsen was born in May 1914 in Odense, Denmark, the tenth child of Lars and Karen Marie Larsen. The family emigrated from Denmark to the United States when she was six years old, and lived for a time in Payson. While finishing school, she studied to become a beautician, and opened a beauty salon at age 16 with a loan from her father that she paid off quickly. Ella met the love of her life Roy Gale when she was 15 and they were married in June 1932 in the Salt Lake Temple—not long after her advertisement for permanent waves at Vogue Beauty Shoppe appeared in The Payson Chronicle’s May 20, 1932 edition.
