Ethel Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge was the youngest child of William Avery Rockefeller Jr. and Almira Geraldine (Goodsell) Rockefeller. Giralda Farms was the name given to the New Jersey country estate where the family lived. She was a great patron of the arts and parts of her collection became the object of a lawsuit following her death.

William Avery Rockefeller Jr. was an American businessman and financier. Rockefeller was a co-founder of Standard Oil along with his elder brother John Davison Rockefeller. He was also a part owner of Anaconda Copper, which was the fourth-largest company in the world by the late 1920s. Rockefeller started his business career as a clerk at 16. In 1867, he joined his brother's company, Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler, which later became Standard Oil. The company was eventually split up by the Supreme Court in 1911. Rockefeller also had a significant involvement in the copper industry. In 1899, Rockefeller and Standard Oil principal Henry H. Rogers joined with Anaconda Company founder Marcus Daly to create the Amalgamated Copper Mining Company, which later returned to the name Anaconda Copper.