Sarah Elizabeth Stewart was born on August 16, 1905 in Tecalitlán, Jalisco, Mexico.[2] Born to a Mexican mother and American engineer father, she moved back to the United States at the age of 5.[1] Due to the Mexican Revolution in 1906, she and her family were asked to leave the country, forcing them to migrate to the United States.[3] She did her undergraduate work at the New Mexico State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1927.