 Norris Bradbury was born in Santa Barbara , California , on 30 May 1909 , one of four children of Edwin Pearly and his wife Elvira née Clausen . One sister died as an infant , and the family adopted twins Bobby and Betty , both of whom served in the United States Marine Corps during World War II . Bradbury was educated at Hollywood High School and Chaffey High School in Ontario , California , graduating at the age of 16 . He then attended Pomona College in Claremont , California , from which he graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts ( BA ) in chemistry in 1929 . This earned him membership of the Phi Beta Kappa Society . At Pomona , he met Lois Platt , an English Literature major who was the sister of his college room mate . They were married in 1933 , and had three sons , James , John , and David . 
