Marie Clements Box was born in Okeechobee on November 13, 1913, and she became a member of the first pioneer family in the City of Okeechobee. She was the daughter of Adeline Raulerson and Clifford James Clements. She was the granddaughter of Peter and Louisiana Chandler Raulerson. Marie’s birth was attended by one of Okeechobee’s most memorable and beloved early citizens, Dr. Anna Darrow, known affectionately then and now as "Doc Anner."

Marie’s father arrived in Okeechobee as a hunter and a trapper and is generally credited with the founding of the settlement of Utopia in 1897 on the eastern shoreline of Lake Okeechobee between Lettuce and Henry Creeks. What began as a fishing camp soon expanded into a community. He opened and operated a store there, and also started a school and was the teacher.

Clifford’s brother, James, was well-known as the mailman who walked the 16 mile mail route between Basinger and Okeechobee.

Marie Clements spent the first five years of her life in Okeechobee with her family. Adeline Raulerson and Clifford James Clements moved in 1918 to Jacksonville. Marie’s family returned to Okeechobee in the mid-1920’s, but Marie spent much of that time attending school in West Palm Beach and only came to Okeechobee on weekends and holidays. The Raulerson family was very close, so those visits were filled with memories of family. Following her marriage to Carmel Box, Marie returned to Okeechobee and today resides in the first log house that her grandparents build some three years after arriving in Okeechobee.

The logs are not visible today from the outside because the home is now covered with siding.