In 1909, aged 17, she married William Eddins McMath,[4] an electrical engineer, and in 1911, the couple moved to Independence, Missouri, where she worked as a newspaper reporter.

[8] At one point, she drew ire from the IRS for not paying taxes on her cut of Ginger's earnings.

[9] During the late 1930s and early 1940s, she worked as an assistant to Charles Koerner, RKO's vice president of production, and was put in charge of the studio's new talent.

For a time, she ran her own acting school on the RKO lot, where she taught pupils like Betty Grable and Lucille Ball.

[12] In 1947, Lela—a founding member of the Motion Picture Alliance for the Preservation of American Ideals and a devout Christian Scientist—testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

The house at 100 W Moore street where Lela gave birth to Ginger Rogers was restored by Gene and Marge Padgitt in 2018 and opened for two years as the Owens-Rogers Museum.