Muriel and Marini (Boo and Rini to family and friends) were born in Auckland in 1898. After studying music at Auckland University the sisters trained as nurses, becoming registered in 1928. Over the next ten years Muriel and Marini practised as nurses and gained additional qualifications.

With the outbreak of World War II Marini and Muriel enlisted for military service. In 1940 Marini was posted to an English Military Hospital treating soldiers sent home for recuperation. She then worked as a Theatre Sister in front‑line tent hospitals in Egypt, Greece and Italy and was present during the evacuation from Greece to Crete. Subsequently she became Matron of No 3 NZ General Hospital, Middle East Forces. On her return to New Zealand at the end of war, Marini became Matron of Greenlane Hospital, a post she held until her retirement in 1955.

Muriel left New Zealand in 1941 to work in a tent hospital in Cairo and at a casualty clearing station in Italy. After the war she undertook further training at the Royal College of Nursing. In December 1946 Muriel returned to New Zealand where she became Supervising Tutor Sister for the Auckland Hospital Board.

The sisters ended their hospital careers in 1955 with a combined retirement function. They continued nursing for some years as they cared for various terminally ill friends and family members.