Dolly Bentson was born in 1937 in Fall River, Massachusetts, as Dolly Silva. She received her B.S. and R.N. from Salve Regina College in Newport, Rhode Island in 1959. In 1961 she married and moved to Skokie, Illinois where she raised her three sons. She presently resides in Minnesota with her husband of twenty years, Gordon. They enjoy biking, tennis, hiking and travel.