Bertha (Rehmann) Straub was born on Tuesday, November 8, 1898 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She was the third child of Christian Wilhelm and Ida (Scull) Rehmann.

In the 1900 census, she and her family were living at 123 Massachusetts Avenue in Atlantic City. The 1910 census shows them living on Park Avenue in Vineland Borough, Cumberland County, New Jersey.