Robert Elijah DeMontagnac, born September 4th, 1944, was the third child born from the marriage of Albert and Ivy DeMontagnac of Portland, Jamaica. Bertie, as he was called by many, was born in the rural village of Cool Shade, Portland and relocated later to the family residence at Rose Hill, Portland where he spent his young life. He grew up in a very strong Christian household. He attended primary school in Tranquility and later went on to Kingston where he studied auto mechanic as a trade.

As a young man, he would frequently travel to Canada as a farm worker, and spent many years living in both Jamaica and Canada. He eventually migrated to the United States in the early eighties with his brother Frank DeMontagnac. Robert was a member of the Laborer's Union and also worked with the local sugar companies in Florida.