Audrey Sobel was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1943. She was raised in Durban, where her family belonged to a reform shul. Growing up during Apartheid, Audrey experienced little Anti-Semitism, but choose to attend university in Johannesburg for the opportunity to meet more Jews. It was during this time she met her husband, Jack, at a party. After they made the decision not to raise their children in Apartheid South Africa, the Sobel family moved to Israel until 1976. The family then spent several years in the United States while Jack worked for the National Institute of Health before returning to Israel. Later, the Sobels and their three children returned to the United States, eventually settling in metropolitan Detroit in 1985. Audrey is a past president of Hadassah Greater Detroit and a former member of the national Hadassah board.