Constance Wagner was born Florence Clare Reynolds on February 12, 1903 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She finished high school in Chicago, Illinois and changed her name to Constance. She also attended art school in Chicago. She married William Roscoe Cassady, a World War I vet, on May 4, 1922. They had three children; Clare Chickering Cassady (December 15, 1922), Kevin Mackenzie Cassady (January 14, 1925), and David Beals Cassady (December 15, 1926). They divorced in 1937 and Constance took a job at a newspaper clipping service to support the children.

Constance married Edward Eldon Wagner, a commercial artist, on October 25, 1938. They had one child, Joan Constance Wagner, born on May 28, 1940. In 1942 they moved to Eureka Springs, Carroll County, Arkansas. Unable to find enough work in Arkansas, they moved back to Chicago in 1953. Edward died of cardiac arrest on June 28, 1958.

In 1960, Constance moved back to Eureka Springs and married Don West, a writer. They divorced in 1962 and Constance started work as a slide curator for the University of Arkansas Art Department.

In 1965 she moved to Norman, Oklahoma and worked on the editorial staff of the journal Books Abroad at the University of Oklahoma. In 1970 Constance lost her job and moved back to Fayetteville. In 1979 she moved to San Leandro, California to be closer to her children and grand children. Constance Wagner died on June 21, 1984 and her ashes were scattered in Eureka Springs.