Lyla Mae Spelbring, born 1922 in Clinton, Illinois, served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II, received her bachelor and master degrees in occupational therapy from Western Michigan University and went on to serve as second lieutenant in the United States Army Women's Medical Specialists Corps. Spelbring joined the faculty at Eastern Michigan University in the Occupational Therapy program and served as Head of the Occupational Therapy Department after the program gained departmental staus by the Board of Regents in the late 1970s.

In addition to her service at EMU, Spelbring served as chief of the Division of Occupational Therapy in the University of Michigan Department of Physical Medicine, was a member of the American Occupational Therapy Association, the Michigan Occupational Therapy Association, the American Public Health Association and was on the advisory committee of the Michigan Cerebral Palsy Association.

Spelbring received her PhD from the University of Michigan in 1981. She retired from the Army reserves in 1982 and from the faculty of EMU in 1984. After retirement, Spelbring was active in the genealogical community of Livingston County, receiving the Lucy Mary Kellogg Award 9 January 2011. At the age of 88, she died on the 27 January 2011 in Howell, Michigan.