Beth Kilpatrick Stocker was born on March 15, 1908 in Faribault, Minnesota to Walter and Elizabeth Kilpatrick. She had one younger brother named Walter. Before settling on a 30-acre farm near Delaware, Ohio, she and her family lived in several different communities as a result of her father's ongoing work as a superintendent of State Residential Schools for the Deaf. Beth was home schooled until age 11; she graduated high school at age 16. In 1928 she received a bachelor of science degree from Ohio University where she majored in biology (she was 20 years old). She had an adventurous spirit, was active in college, and well-liked by teachers and other students. Some of her activities included the Women's Athletic Association, YWCA, and a local sorority that later became a chapter of Phi Mu.