Ivo Nikolai Lambi was born 14 July 1931, in Tallinn, Estonia. As a teenager during the Second World War, he lived in Estonia and Germany, completing high school at the Estonian Secondary School at Gottingen and at Lingen (Germany) in 1947. He came to Canada with his family at age 17. He completed a B.A. (University of Toronto, 1952), M.A. (University of Toronto, 1955) and Ph.D. (University of Minnesota, 1958). He was a lecturer at the University of Toronto,1958-1960, and instructor at the University of Omaha, 1960-1961, before being appointed to the faculty of the Department of History at the University of Saskatchewan in 1961. He was promoted to full professor in 1967 and was the department head, 1969-1974. He specialized in 19th century German history. Among other publications, he published two books: Free Trade and Protection in Germany, 1868-1879 (1963); and The Navy and German Power Politics (1984). Shortly before he died, he had also completed major study of Otto von Bismarck. He was the founding editor of the Canadian Journal of History, 1965, and served as President of the Canadian Historical Association in 1971. He was twice was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt Senior Fellowship, and also sat on the Strategic Studies and Military History Selection Committee, Department of National Defense, 1989-1994. He retired in 1996, and died on 2 January 2000 in Saskatoon.

Jacqueline Lambi (nee Hoffman) was born 2 December 1931, in Patterson, New Jersey. She started her undergraduate education at Bucknell University (Pennsylvania), then transferred to the University of Minnesota where she completed a Bachelor of Social Work degree, 1952, and a Master of Social Work degree, 1954. She was a social worker at the University Hospital in Saskatoon, 1970-1994, where she "helped patients and their families come to terms with the losses relating to disease and death." She was also a practicum supervisor for the University of Regina Faculty of Social Work, instrumental in starting the Kidney Association, and very involved with the Cystic Fibrosis Association. She died on 3 February 2000 from complications following open heart surgery.