Velma Hartsock, daughter of Jacob H. and Nannie Viola Wade Hartsock, was born in Radford, Virginia on June 6, 1907. She married Harry Bruce Alderman (1904-1966) in Bristol, Tennessee, on February 6, 1926; the couple lived in Radford with their three children, and by 1940 Velma Alderman had taken work at a local textile plant. The Aldermans divorced in 1948, and the 1950 federal census shows her living in Radford with her youngest child while operating a railroad newsstand. By the time of her marriage to Emmett Gammon Staley (1908-1975) in 1956, Velma Alderman was working as a clerk for Roses (likely Roses Department Store). In the decree for her divorce from Emmett in January, 1964, Velma is described as a clerk for the Greyhound Bus Company. Six months after the Staleys divorced, Velma Hartsock Staley married Lewis Jackson Ritter (1908-1981). Velma Hartsock Alderman Staley Ritter died in Radford on September 23, 1990, and was buried in West View Cemetery, Radford.

Nancy Alderman Orange (1932-2013), youngest child of Velma and Harry Alderman, served on the staff of Virginia Tech for 20 years before reting in 1997.