Marvel was reared on a small ranch in the heart of the Colorado Rocky Mountains where she worked on the ranch and was a wrangler and guide. She competed in most rodeo events, including rodeo queen titles. She also participated in 4-H and attended Sandia View Academy high school. She remembers her parents giving her serious responsibilities and lots of love and praise. The rest of her life has been around educational experiences to grow as a person, to better help others and to find new adventures. She has worked in Monument Valley, Utah among the Navajo Indians and in Barrow, Alaska among the Inupiat Eskimos. While in Barrow she helped design and building six village health clinics on the… North Slope. She is a registered nurse, a social worker, a drug and alcohol counselor, an artist and photographer, and enjoys writing poetry.