Robert E Engle was born on December 11th, 1919 to Elizabeth M Engle and William Franklin Engle. His father was a Spanish-American War veteran and worked for the PA Railroad. He graduated from William Penn High School in 1938. Engle was known as the "star athletes" by his classmates. He was one of 11 children and had 3 brothers and 7 sisters. He married his wife Virginia and had two daughters Jeannie and Nancy.