Marcell Bar-On was born in South Africa and met her Israeli husband, Uzi, when she was 25 years old. Her love affair with Israel began long before she met him. She had always been fascinated by the history of Israel and with the myriad stories of courage and survival and so it was no surprise to her that she lost her heart to an Israeli that she too would become an Israeli and live in Israel. Uzi, Marcell and their four children are members of Kibbutz Nir-Am (an agricultural community).