Jarman was one of 12 children (3 died young) born to Julius and Amelia Berendt, in 1901, in Sioux City, Iowa. She married Michael Roy Jarman, and they had two children, LeRoy and LaVerne. The family moved to Chicago, Illinois, where Michael Roy abandoned the family and Eleanor worked primarily as a waitress until she met George Dale. Dale supported her and the children by robbing small shops in Chicago's West Side. In the spring and summer of 1933, Eleanor became an accomplice.
