Courtney Sale Ross was born and brought up in Bryan, Texas. Courtney's parents met during the war; when they married, her father, E. B. "Chick" Sale, gave up the ranching life and came to work for his father-in-law, the county's Coca-Cola franchiser. But he appears to have been a lackluster businessman, for Courtney's mother took over the franchise soon enough. The essence of the Ross School, Courtney says, traces back to Holton-Arms, the Bethesda boarding school which she and her sisters attended.