Ethel Gersch Adelson was born on May 10, 1923 in New York City to Charles Robert Adelson, a candy manufacturer, and Jane Levinson Adelson. She attended high school in New York City and Great Neck, New York. From February to June 1940 she attended the Art Student's League in New York City. She attended Mount Holyoke College from 1940 to 1944, graduating with a major in art and a minor in philosophy. She also attended a number of art schools during summers away from Mount Holyoke. On February 15, 1948 she married Armin Newton Schaper, an alumnus of the University of Wisconsin and a Navy veteran, and moved with him to Harrison, NY. They had two children: Elizabeth Ann (MHC '74) and Douglas Barnard. Mr. and Mrs. Schaper operated the Schaper Collection, Antiques & Interiors in Rye, New York.