Nellie Rice Boer was born on December 24th, 1877 in Coopersville, Michigan. Nellie was a graduate of the Unversity of Michigan and was involved in their alumni association for a long time. She is listed in the directory, "Women's Voices: Early Years at the University of Michigan" as "Pres of Grand Rapids Assoc." Nellie was married to John L. Boer, a City Clerk from 1903-1909 who later became a Lieutenant Colonel during World War I. Both were listed in the Grand Rapids Society Blue Book ("The Elite Family Directory"). They have been listed as living at 10 Paddock, 114 Paddock, and 27 Rochester Place. For a time she was registered in the American Kennel Club as a bulldog breeder, and bulldogs are featured in many of the photos of this collection.

They had one son, Lawrence Fuller Boer, a boy scout and promising young athlete who passed away at age 16 due to an infection in his left hip. He spent the last three years of his life in and out of Blodgett Hospital and passed away on December 17, 1917. John was stationed in France at the time.

Nellie and John divorced by 1920 and, according to the census, she was living on her own working as an Insurance Solicitor at age 42. John moved to Lansing where he would work in the Department of Labor and Industry for 21 years. She later remarried Dr. Mortimer E. Roberts who was at one point the city bacteriologist. Nellie Rice Roberts passed away in February 1979 at the age of 101.