Gladys Hesser Burnham was born March 6, 1907 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Claude Henry Hesser and Daisy Dorety. She attended schools in Bountiful, Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah; Rigby, Idaho; and Logan, Utah where she graduated from Utah State University in Education. She taught school at Bountiful Jr. High (then it was South Davis Jr. High). Gladys married Louis Earl Burnham on June 15, 1930. They had three children. She belonged to various clubs, Flora Dell, Utah Poetry Society, National Pen Women, and the League of Utah Writers. She was a well known and gifted Bountiful Poetess and won many poetry contests and her work was published in many magazines and newspapers. She was a member of the Christian Science Church.