Vickie Gomez was born in Barstow, Texas. Both her father and grandfather tended goats when Gomez was a child. Her family moved to Odessa in 1945, and Gomez attended mixed Anglo and Mexican schools. Gomez first when to Odessa High School and then Ector County High School, where she graduated from in 1959. Gomez then went to Odessa College, after being discouraged from attending university by a high school counselor. At the same time, she became the first Hispanic to work for the city’s First National Bank. After attending Odessa College for six years, Gomez went to the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated from in 1972. When she returned to Odessa, she began working as an administrator for the University of Texas Premium Basin. In 1976, Gomez ran for Ector County ISD Board of Trustees. She won an at-large election with a black and brown coalition. Gomez helped push integration in Odessa schools.