 Eccles is the son of Spencer Stoddard Eccles and Pauline Hope Fox and the grandson of Ellen Stoddard and David Eccles, a Utah banker and industrialist.He earned a bachelor of science in finance in 1956 from the University of Utah, where he was also a member of Beta Theta Pi, and a master of business administration in 1958 from Columbia University School of Business.Eccles is the nephew of both George S. Eccles and Marriner Stoddard Eccles.