Jane Wofford Malin's mother, Pearl Ethel Keene (Betty) Malin, was born September 25, 1896 at Bokchito, Oklahoma. Betty's father was a well-known physician, Dr. N. P. Keene, and operated Keene Sanitorium in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

Betty met James C. Malin when she was the secretary of Central High School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and James was teaching history there. They married on July 23, 1920 in Oklahoma City at a private ceremony. She attended Oklahoma City College and the University of Kansas briefly.

After marrying, the Malins lived at 1333 Ohio Street in Lawrence, Kansas while James C. Malin settled into his career as history professor at the University of Kansas. Betty gave birth to daughter Jane on January 30, 1926. The family moved to 1541 University Drive in 1935.

Betty Malin helped the elementary schools where Jane attended and often donated flowers and bulbs from her garden. She frequently attended events at the University of Kansas and in Lawrence, Kansas. She, like her daughter, loved music and the theater. She was a highly skilled seamstress and metalurgist, creating the clothing and jewelry worn by Jane and herself. An excellent typist, she did the typing for her husband's articles and books.

After her husband's death in 1979, Malin corresponded with his researchers and with libraries, helping them acquire the research information they needed or even donating her husband's books to them.

When Jane retired in 1986, she moved back in her with her mother. Betty died on February 8, 1989 at her home in Lawrence and was buried next to her husband in the Pioneer Cemetery on the campus of the University of Kansas.