Rodney Davis was born in Sacramento, California in 1949. His father was a state legislator and his mother was a Czech-American who had divorced her first husband and moved to California to start a new life. She had many jobs, including working in a chicken factory, as a housekeeper, and for the phone company. She also worked for Western Pacific during WWII, where she met Rodney's father. Rodney grew up in a household where his mother was a trailblazer and he learned many lessons from her, including courage and grit.