[3][4][5] Marie Louise Mercury was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on April 30, 1926, to Nicholas and Josephine (Borré) Mercurio.

After graduating from Girls' Latin School, she attended Mount Holyoke College for her undergraduate studies.

She graduated summa cum laude from Mount Holyoke in 1945[6] with a major in chemistry with minors in mathematics, physics and physiology.

[3] Her professors included Anna J. Harrison, Mary Lura Sherrill,[7] Emma Perry Carr, and Lucy Pickett.

[3] While her husband became a faculty member at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Marie Roth worked in private industry and taught undergraduate courses at various universities.