Esther (Green) Floth was born in Watkins Glen, NY. She attended Strayer Business College in Washington, DC, and is a lifetime member of the Alpha Iota’s International Honorary Business Sorority.
During World War II, Floth worked as a secretary for General Leslie Groves during the Manhattan Project in Washington, DC. Her job afforded her the opportunity to meet leading Manhattan Project officials and scientists, including J. Robert Oppenheimer, Niels Bohr, Ernest Lawrence, and others. After the war, she held a variety of jobs including for the Atomic Energy Commission and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.