Velda Annie Perry was born on December 27, 1899, in Rudy, Fremont County, Idaho, the ninth of ten children of Henry M. Perry and Fannie Young. Her twin sister Verna was the tenth child. Their father Henry was an early pioneer in the Snake River Valley, a bishop in the LDS Church, and a forward-looking farmer and land developer who helped establish the region’s irrigation systems.

Velda and Verna entered Ricks Academy in 1916 and graduated in 1920. After graduation, where Verna chose marriage, Velda pursued her lifelong ambition of teaching. She earned a teaching certificate from the Idaho Technical School (now Idaho State University) and taught for two years before marrying John Hiram “Hi” Lovell in the Logan Temple on June 7, 1922. Over the following decades she balanced raising their two children with an extended teaching career — returning to school during the Depression to earn a life certificate and eventually a Bachelor of Science degree — and taught for 36 years in total, primarily in Idaho Falls first-grade classrooms. She retired from teaching in 1968.

Velda served two full-time LDS missions and three stake missions over her lifetime, in addition to eleven years as a temple guide at the Idaho Falls and Laie, Hawaii temples. She accompanied Hi on his 1956–1959 work mission to the Church College of Hawaii, where she served as a temple guide and reportedly continued her teaching work while there.

She was a meticulous housekeeper and an excellent cook — her cream puffs and beef stroganoff were family landmarks. She watched Atlanta Braves games for the same reason her daughter Gayl did: the team’s star player Dale Murphy was a fellow member of the Church. She supported Gayl financially after Gayl’s divorce from Ivan Harker and loaned money to Norman and Marilyn in their early years.

Velda was a sister of Leslie (“L. Tom”) Perry Sr., who was the father of LDS Apostle Lowell Tom Perry (1922–2015). Norman has described her as his second cousin once removed from the apostle through the Perry line.

After Hi’s death in October 1982, Velda spent her winters in a mobile home she purchased in Overton, Nevada, where Gayl and Mike Richins also wintered. Gayl and Mike eventually moved into the Idaho Falls house to help care for Velda in her final years.

Velda Annie Perry Lovell died on April 27, 1999, in Boise, Ada County, Idaho, at the age of 99. She was buried at Rigby, Jefferson County, Idaho.