 Ingelfinger akaberekerwa muDresden, Germany, ari mwana mumwe bedzi waEleanor Holden naJoseph Franz Ingelfinger. Akauya kuUnited States nemhuri yake mukutanga kwema1920 kuzogara mutaundi rekumusha kwaamai vake reSwampscott, Massachusetts uko baba vake veGerman vakagadzira tsika yakajairika sachiremba. Pashure pokutanga kuda kupinda munyika yebhizimisi, akatarisana nemikana yebasa inoderera pashure pokuparara kweWall Streetakasarudza kutevera baba vake ndokupinda mune zvokurapa. Ingelfinger akawana madhipuroma kubva kuPhillips Andover Academy, achiteverwa neYale University muna 1932 uye Harvard Medical School muna 1936. 