Rockefeller was born in Oakland, California, on December 10, 1944, a twin daughter of Senator Charles Harting Percy (1919—2011) and Jeanne Valerie Dickerson, who died in 1947.

[3] Her experience prompted her to convince filmmaker Ken Burns to produce the 2015 documentary Cancer: The Emperor of All Maladies.

[5] The Rockefellers live in the Northwest quadrant of Washington, DC and retain a permanent residence in Charleston, West Virginia.

[6] As First Lady of West Virginia, Rockefeller promoted the Public Broadcasting Service; helped establish a centralized system to assist mentally disabled children; and founded Mountain Artisans, a quilting business for low-income artisans.

After her husband was elected to the United States Senate in 1985, she became chief executive officer of WETA-TV in Washington, D.C. She later became chairwoman of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.