Maureen Reillette "Rebbie" Jackson was born at St Mary's Mercy Hospital in Gary, Indiana to a working-class family on May 29, 1950. The daughter of Joseph Walter "Joe" (July 26, 1928 - June 27, 2018), and Katherine Esther (née Scruse, May 4, 1930), she is the eldest of their 10 children. Her siblings are Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, La Toya, Marlon, Brandon (d. March 12, 1957), Michael (d. June 25, 2009), Randy, and Janet. Joseph was a steel mill employee who often performed in a rhythm and blues (R&amp;B) band called the Falcons with his brother, Luther. His wife, Katherine, is a Jehovah's Witness and raised her children to follow the religion. Rebbie, La Toya, and Michael became the most devout of the children as time progressed. Reflecting on her early life, Rebbie acknowledged in a 1980s magazine interview that her role within the family had been that of a "second mother" to her younger siblings, whom she would often babysit, along with her eldest brother Jackie. She graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High school in Gary in 1968.