Deanna Stefanelli was raised in Justice, Illinois with two younger brothers. She married to her husband, John, on October 18, 1970 in Lagrange, Illinois. As Stefanelli and her family moved around the country, she worked on her undergraduate degree, which she finished at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) while working in the administration department at the library. She retired from working in library administration in 2010.