Jeana Lee Yeager was born on May 18, 1952, in Fort Worth, Texas, to Royal Lee Yeager (March 12, 1918 - March 17, 2001) and Mary Frances Yeager ( Dewberry) (March 17, 1920 – November 13, 2017). As a child, she and her family variously lived in Garland, Texas, Oxnard, California, and Commerce, Texas. Following graduation from high school, Yeager, at age 19, married a police officer; they divorced five years later. She then worked as a draftsman and surveyor for a geothermal energy company in Santa Rosa, California. In 1978, Yeager obtained her private pilot's license while still living in Santa Rosa.