Born in Perth, Mem Cunningham was raised from the age of three in rural Bencubbin, Western Australia, where her father worked for the Mt Marshall District. She studied at the Sacred Heart Academy in Perth, Teachers' Training College, and the University of Western Australia, where she received her teaching certificate. In 1945, she married an American serviceman, with whom she lived in the United States until his death in 1953, when she returned to Australia. In 1955, she returned to the U.S.A., married Paul M. Cunningham, and settled in Texas.