 Boshoff's mother, Anna, was the second wife of his father; together they had 7 children in addition to the six from his father's first marriage.Carel Boshoff spent much of his youth at his father's ranch in the Waterberg District in the northern Transvaal, attended the University of Pretoria and attained his doctorate in theology in 1951 after doing missionary work throughout the old Transvaal Province.He spoke the Sepedi (Northern Sotho) language fluently and served as Secretary of Missions for the Dutch Reformed Church.