Jeannette Ramos was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico, to politician Ernesto Ramos Antonini and educator Josefina Buonomo. Her later childhood was spent in the Floral Park neighborhood of Hato Rey, Puerto Rico. During her childhood, she has said she was victim of racism from friends and neighbors. When she was young, she traveled with her family to Europe, including England and the Netherlands. During a visit to a nightclub, she met Dutch Wouter Bordewijk. They fell in love and married when she was 18 years old. They lived in the Netherlands for 8 years, and had two children together: Wouter Ernesto and Robert Paul.
Ramos and Bordewijk divorced, and she decided to return to Puerto Rico. While here, she started studying law, despite the opposition of her parents. She studied at the University of Puerto Rico, where she met Harold Toro, a fellow law student. They married in 1964, but divorced two years later. During this time, she also started working as a Special Aide to the Governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella.
In March 1967, news of an affair between Governor Roberto Sánchez Vilella and Jeannette Ramos, his former legislative aide, became public. Once the scandal broke, Governor Sánchez, who initially denied the allegations, announced that he would seek a divorce from his wife of 31 years, First Lady Conchita Dapena, in order to marry Ramos. The affair effectively ended Sánchez's political career, as he also announced that he would not seek re-election. The difference in age - Governor Sánchez was 55-years old, while Ramos, who was twice divorced, was 35-years old at the time - also stunned Puerto Ricans. Roberto Sánchez Vilella and Jeannette Ramos married in a civil ceremony in Humacao in October 1967, just two days after his divorce from Conchita Dapena was finalized. After their marriage, Ramos assumed the role of First Lady of Puerto Rico until the end of Sánchez' term in 1969. Ramos and Sánchez had two children: Roberto José and Olga Elizabeth.
Professional career
After their time in La Fortaleza, Ramos started her own professional career in law. She presided over the Commission for the Judicial Branch Restructuring, which originated the Appeals Court itself. She then worked as an appeals judge in the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals from 1985 to 2000. When Sánchez Vilella died in 1997, she married the following year to José Rivera, a doctor from Ponce. In 2011, Ramos released a book called Intima, where she shares details of her life. She is the daughter of known politician Ernesto Ramos Antonini, one of the co-founders of the Popular Democratic Party.
