She was born in Memphis, Tennessee, the daughter of Virginia (née Cummings 1939-2018)Virginia Roberts Obituary Legacy.Com accessed 2/19/2022 and Stanley Roberts. Growing up, she was close to her maternal grandmother, Virginia "Virgie" (Collins) Cummings, who lived with her family. She graduated from Briarcrest Christian School in Memphis, Tennessee. In the early 1980s, she graduated from University of Mississippi, where she became a member of the Kappa Delta sorority, was a cheerleader, and met her future husband, Sean Tuohy, a basketball player for the Ole Miss Rebels.
