Lennie Small was born on August 2, 1902, in Monterey, California, he was born to unidentified parents. Lennie grew up in an orphanage until it was burned down in 1909. After the orphanage was burned down, Lennie lived with his Aunt Clara who became his caretaker. Lennie loved to feel soft items so Aunt Clara would give him rubber mice and velvet. During his childhood, Lennie behaved in an odd manner. Lennie attended Tehama County High School and did not finish his education. In 1930, Lennie met George Milton and worked with him on different ranches. Lennie had a dying ambition to buy a farm with George and house a collection of rabbits to take care of. One incident forced them to leave a ranch that occurred with Lennie stroking a woman's dress. People in the town thought that Lennie raped the woman. The next ranch that they worked on was in Salinas, California. During the time on the ranch, Lennie fought the boss's son, Curley. Curley was seen as a predator because he liked to pick on other men who were bigger than him. Lennie was also the suspect of killing a woman on the ranch and ran away. On August 26, 1935, George Milton killed Lennie so the other ranch workers wouldn’t torture him or get him hung. Lennie was 33 years old during his passing.