Mary K. Sarlow was born May 28, 1902 in Brooklyn, New York. Her birth name was Mary Catherine Carmella Sarlo. She spent most of her young life growing up on the streets of Brooklyn, New York. About 1917, her family moved to Ionia, Michigan, where her father worked for the Ypsilanti Reed Furniture Company.

She was a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) since 1959. She wrote songs for Same-Carruthers Units (Chicago) and for the Raynell Revue, circuses and minstrel shows. Sarlow worked on the lyrics and music with Don Large, Beatrice Lever, Caesar Giovannini, Arthur Korb, as well as several others. Some of her songs that were published were "The Holiday Polka", "I Keep Wishing", and "The Lord Has His Arms Around Me."

Mary K. Sarlow also wrote under numerous names including Sarlow, M. K., Sarlow, Mary, Sarlow, Mary K., Sarlow, Mary Kay, Mary Kaye, Mary Kaye and the Kayettes, Mary Katherine Kay, Mark Kay, Mack Kayton, Jay Vee Sarlow, and Colaiuta and Kay. There was also the possibility that she used her sister's name, Rose Sarlow.

Sarlow died October 24, 1994, in Ionia, Michigan.