Lila Martin was born fifth into a family of six children, She was born on November 13, 1886. Her family dates back to before the War for independence was fought. Her Mother was born on September 13, 1851 in De Kalb Junction in northern New York State. The Deremo family moved west and settled in Spring lake Township , Ottawa County, Michigan soon after she was born .
Lila was born on the family farm near what is now known as Deremo Bayou. Her father was a fruit it farmer. They had many different kinds of apple trees, cherries, berries, and grapes, as well as a complete vegetable garden that was produced to be sold.
Lila's early years of school was very limited . The school at that time was several miles away and being long before automobiles and school busses it ment that they had to walk to school, so when the weather was bad and during the winter months the children stayed home. Later on a New school was built that was only a little over a mile away.
A float bridge had been built over the Deremo bayou just a short distance from their house. She tells of walking over it and seeing water and black snakes crawling between the boards. She always carried a stick to shoo them away when she walked across. The bridge lasted for many years and carried automobiles on it. It was getting old and the weight of a car would shove the bridge down so the it would be under water until after the car had reached the other side. The bridge stood until the middle nineteen hundreds when it was thought to be to old and rotten to carry traffic safely.
One time her aunt took Lila and her older sister {Della} to town. She gave each of them a nickel to spend. A nickel was a lot of money in those days. They each bought a china teapot. Lila's was blue and Della chose a gold one. These remained in their families for years being handed down to the next generation and remain part of a prized collection They are still around although the gold one may have been lost when Della"s daughter passed away a year ago.