Burkhalter was born as Etta Louise Jones in Hillsborough County, Florida, USA on 13 November 1912, to John and Sarah Jones. Her older brother served during the First World War. She caught the Spanish flu at the age of 5. Her mother died of tuberculosis at the age of 43, when Etta Louise was 13 years old. She was ill for about three years.

On 16 December 1929, she married Carl Burkhalter. During the Great Depression, the couple moved from Tampa to Harrison, Michigan, where they built a house on a farm and raised their three daughters.

Her husband passed away in 1992, after 62 years of marriage. As of 2020, Burkhalter was still very lucid, and all three of her daughters were still alive (the eldest of which was aged 84 at the time).

Burkhalter currently lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.