Sallie Ann Hannawacker, daughter of Dr. John and Jeannette (Tiedje) Ferguson, was born March 1, 1956, at Skiff Memorial Hospital in Newton, Iowa. Sallie graduated from Newton Senior High School in 1974.

Sallie attended Central College in Pella, Iowa and graduated from the University of Denver with a degree in psychology. She became a Registered Nurse at Arapahoe Community College. She met and fell in love with her own Bruce Springsteen, Frank Hannawacker, in 1985. They were married in Newton in 1991 and have spent decades traveling enthusiastically throughout the U.S. and abroad.

They moved to St Cloud, Minn., in 1990 where Sallie spent 22 years as a trauma nurse in the emergency room at St. Cloud Hospital. She was dedicated to her patients and to her co-workers, who became very important and special friends in her life.