I whānau a Rangimārie Hursthouse i te 24 o Mei i te tau 1892, ki Oparure e tata atu rā ki Te Kūiti. Ko Charles Wilson Hursthouse rāua ko Mere Te Rongopāmamao Aubrey ōna mātua. Nō te tau 1843 i maunu mai ai a Charles Hursthouse me tōna whānau i Ingarangi. He pāpā Ingarihi anō hoki tō Te Rongopāmamao, arā, ko Ingoingo nei tōna whaea, ā, ko Mākereta Pēpene Poharama anō tōna nei īngoa. Nō Ngāti Kinohaku ia, he hapū nō Ngāti Maniapoto. I mua atu hoki he hononga tāne, hononga wahine anō ō ōna mātua; i te taha ki tōna māmā, hei tuahine pōtiki anō a Rangimārie ki ērā o ana karanga tokowhā, he pāpā kē tō rātou. Tokowhitu anō ērā o ana pākanga nō tēraka mārenatanga o tōna pāpā. Nā te kaha Pākehā o ōna kāwai i kitea ai te kiritea o tōna āhua, me te tāroaroa o tōna hanga.
Nā runga i te mahi rūri, mahi mīhini a tōna pāpā mō te rērewe matua, me te hiahia o tōna whaea kia noho tonu rātou ko tōna whānau ki Oparure, i tipu mai ai a Rangimārie i roto i a Ngāti Kinohaku. I ētahi wā noa nei i tae ake ai tōna pāpā ki te kite i a rātou. Nō te tau 1899 i whakahau ai a Hursthouse kia tonoa a Rangimārie ki te taha o tētehi whānau Pākehā noho ai, e tata atu rā ki Paemako. I reira ka tīmata tana haere ki te kura. Tino tauhou katoa ki a Rangimārie tēnei tū āhua noho, noho pōuri kau noa ana ia. Kāore i pau rawa te tau ka tonoa nei ia ki tētehi o ōna tuākana i Kāwhia noho ai, kuraina atu hoki ki reira. Nō muri i te whatinga ake o te ringa o Rangimārie, e iwa tau nei tōna pakeke i taua wā, ka hoki atu ia ki tana māmā, tiakina ai. Mau tonu tana haere ki te kura i te Kura Māori o Te Kūiti, ā, i muri iho ki te Kura Māori i Oparure, ko ia nei tētehi o ngā tauira tuatahi i taua kura. I whakatipua ake a Rangimārie i roto i te whānau whānui tonu, ka maha kē nei ngā mahi toi i mau i a ia, pēraka i te mahi whatu tūturu ake a te Māori.
Nō te 16 o Pēpuere i te tau 1911, i moea ai e Rangimārie a Tūheka Taonui Hetet i Oparure, he mahi kāmura nei tana mahi. He mokopuna a Tūheka nā te kaiwhai tohorā Wīwī rā, nā Louis Hetet, rāua ko te wahine rangatira rā, ko Rangituatahi nō rō mai i a Ngāti Maniapoto. Tokorua nei ā rāua tamariki i mua i te haerenga o Tūheka ki te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao i te tau 1914, ā, tata atu ki te rima tau tana roa i te ope taua. I tōna hokinga mai, tokotoru anō ā rāua tamariki, ā, e kōhungahunga tonu ana tētehi ka mate.
I Oparure tonu te whānau e noho ana i mua i tō rātou nekenga atu ki Rātana Pā i te tau 1924, ā, i reira e āwhina ana a Tūheka i te mahi whakatū i te temepara o Rātana. Nō te takiwā o te tau 1930 pea i hoki mai ai rātou ki Oparure. Tino pāngia ana a Tūheka e te mate pāhoahoa, e te haumaruru hoki. Ki te whakapono o te whānau, he paihana kāhetia nōna i te pakanga te take i pāngia a ia e te mate. Nō te tau 1938 i mate ohorere a Tūheka.
Pau ana i a Rangimārie ngā tau tekau i muri mai e mahi haere ana, arā, he wahine whakahaere hōtēra nei te mahi i te hōtēra tūmataiti o Pendennis i Pōneke (Wellington); whāia i muri mai ka noho ia hei kaitara ā-whare i te Kāreti Wēteriana (Wesley College) i Ākarana (Auckland), kaitunu kai atu hoki i te hōpuni hōia i te motu o Waiheke. I tana hokinga atu ki Oparure ka hokona mai e ia he wāhanga whenua nei i Te Kūiti, me ētehi kau nei. Nō muri i whakatūria e tana tama mātāmua, e Wirihana (Bill) he whare i taua whenua, ā, ā mate noa a Rangimārie i noho ia i reira.
I te whakatūranga o te Rōpū Wāhine Toko i te Ora (Māori Women’s Welfare League) i te tau 1951, ko Rangimārie tētehi o ngā mema tuatahi o taua rōpū. Tīmata ake ana te whakaako a Rangimārie i te mahi whatu tūturu a te Māori ki ngā wāhine o tōna takiwā, me tana whakaako anō hoki i ngā tamariki o ngā kura. Ko te hiahia o Rangimārie kia mau tonu te tikanga tūturu o te whatu, kua tata kē nei te ngaro haere i taua wā. Tika tonu ana kia riro ko te rōpū toko i te ora hei ahurewa, whakahoki mai anō i te taonga nei. Hei mihi mō āna mahi, i whakaīngoatia a ia hei mema mō te rōpū ā mate noa.
Wawe kau ana te ahu whakamua atu o Rangimārie i ana mahi whakaako, ki ngā mahi whakaaturanga, ā, taihoa ake anō ki ngā mahi whakakitenga. Hāunga hoki ngā mahi whatu, he huhua noa atu ngā whakakitenga toi ā-rohe i whai wāhi atu ia, pērā i te mahi whatu huru, mahi tuitui, mahi tuimāwhai hoki. Taka rawa mai ki ngā tau tōmua o te tekau atu i 1960 kua hau kē te rongo o Rangimārie hei tohunga mahi korowai. Kua hipa nei ōna tau i te 70, huhua ana ngā pōwhiri mai i a ia ki te whakakite i āna taonga huri noa i te motu tae atu ki tāwāhi hoki.
Nō te tau 1965 tana whakakite tuatahi i te whakakitenga toi ‘An Exhibition of Crafts’ i te Papa Whakahiku (Auckland Institute and Museum). I te marae o Waiwhetū i Te Awakairangi (Hutt Valley) tētehi whakaatu anō o āna mahi i te tau 1969. I raro i te maru o te Manatū Aorere (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) i whakaurua atu āna taonga ki tētehi paenga, he mea hari whakakitekite haere i tāwāhi i te tau 1972. Tū ngātahi ai te whakakitenga o wā rāua mahi ko tana tamāhine, ko Diggeress Te Kanawa i te Whare Taonga Toi o Waikato (Waikato Art Museum) i te tau 1979. Nō taua tau anō i whakaurua atu ai ngā kōrero mō āna mahi i te pānuitanga rā, i te Koru. Nō te tau 1978 i riro mai i a ia he tohu whatu (Weaving Award) nō te Pēke o Aotearoa (Bank of New Zealand), he mea tuku ki a ia i tētehi whakakitenga i tū nei ki te taiwhanga whakaatu o Dowse (Dowse Gallery) i te taha whaka-te-raro o Te Awakairangi.
Nō te tau 1980 i whakaae ai a Rangimārie ki te pōwhiringa mai i a ia kia haere atu ki te taiopenga toi o Te Moananui-a-Kiwa ki te Tonga (South Pacific Festival of Arts) i Papua Nūkīni. Nō te tau i muri mai i whakaatu anō ia i āna mahi i te whakakitenga o te motu mō ngā mahi wūru (National Woolcrafts Festival) i Ōtepoti (Dunedin) me te whakakitenga anō hoki o ‘Feathers and Fibre’ i te taiwhanga whakaatu o Rotorua (Rotorua Art Gallery). Nā ngā kaha tonu o tōna whānau, i tuwhera ai te kāinga Māori o Ōhākī, wāhi mahi toi hoki (Ōhākī Māori Village and Crafts Centre) i Waitomo i te tau 1982. Ko tētehi āhua anō o te kāinga nei hei wāhi tuku mai mā Rangimārie rāua ko Diggeress i ō rāua mōhiotanga mō te mahi whatu tūturu. Nō te tau 1982 i riro tahi i a rāua te tohu pāpaho mō ngā wāhine (Mediawomen Award for Women).
Ko te tau 1984 te tau i tino nui ai āna mahi, ka whakaatu nei ia i āna mahi i te whakakitenga, i ‘Māori Artists of the South Pacific’. Nō muri mai i kitea ake anō āna mahi i te whakakitenga i te taiwhanga whakaatu o Renwick (Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian Institute) i te tau 1985. I te tau 1986 i puta anō āna mahi i te whakakitenga nei, ko ‘Women and Arts in New Zealand’ te īngoa. Nā te mea ka rau tau tōna pakeke i tohua a ia hei mema mō te rōpū mō ngā mahi rauangi o Aotearoa (New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts) ā mate noa ia. He mahi anō āna i roto i ngā kohinga taonga o te wā a Te Waka Toi i haria haeretia rā ki te Hononga o Amerika i ngā tau 1992 me 1993. He mahi anō hoki wāna i te taiwhanga whakaatu o Te Taumata (Taumata Art Gallery) i Ākarana me Te Papa Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand) anō hoki i te tau 1994.
Nō te tau 1973 i ūhia ai a Rangimārie Hetet ki te tohu MBE, me te tohu CBE hoki i te tau 1984. Nō te tau 1974 i mau i a ia he whakawhiwhinga tūranga nā te whare wānanga kia whai ia i tāna i hiahia ai, he mea hoatu e te kaunihera mahi toi a Kuini Erihāpeti Te Tuarua o Aotearoa (Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council of New Zealand). I te tau 1986 ka whakawhiwhia a ia e te whare wānanga o Waikato ki te tākutatanga whakahōnoretanga, ā, nō te tau 1992 i tohua a ia hei Kahurangi mō te Emepaea o Peretānia (DBE), āpiti atu hoki ki te tohu mō ngā mahi toi o te Kāwana Tianara (Governor General’s Art Award), nā te rōpū mō ngā mahi rauangi o Aotearoa i whakarite māna.
I ngā wā kāore nei i pau ōna kaha ki ana mahi, whakapau kē ana ia ki tōna whānau ake, ka rima whakatipuranga kē nei hoki. He wahine pūkeke a Rangimārie, tino tōtika nei ia ki te whakakaupapa i ana mahi, ā, e noho tino mōhio katoa nei ōna uri ki tōna mana, ki ōna whakaaro rangatira me ōna tūmanako. He ngākau tūpato nei tō Rangimārie, he pukumahi haere tonu tana mahi; he wahine mana motuhake, whakakeke anō hoki ia, ā, nā te mea he pai nei tana momo kai, ka pai nei hoki tōna ora. Heoi anō pēhia ana ia i te pokonga o te arotahi i te takiwā o te tau 1984. Nā te mate haere o ana kanohi, pāngia ake hoki e te kaikōiwi, ka uaua tana whakaoti i te whatu manganga. Otirā kore rawa i paku heke tana kohara ki tana mahi; tae rawa ki te rā i hemo ia, e whatu tonu ana, e whatu tonu ana.
Nā tōna mauriroa, tokotoru ana tamariki me ētehi o ngā mea tamariki o ōna uri i mate atu i mua i a ia. He ahakoa tonu, i te wā i hinga nei a Rangimārie Hetet ki Te Kūiti i te 14 o Hune o te tau 1995, nuku kē atu i te 100 ōna uri e ora tonu mai ana.