Betsie was of Danish descent and born on 17 May 1901 to Wynand Johannes and Anna Francina Susanna (née Naude) Schoombee in Middelburg in the Cape Colony.

Betsie met her future husband while both were attending Stellenbosch University in the early 1920s.

Anna Verwoerd married Carel Boshoff, who later founded the Afrikaner settlement of Orania.

Nelson Mandela expressed his sadness at her death, stating he had been impressed with her "pure Afrikaner hospitality" when he visited her in 1995.

A primary school in Randfontein was previously named in her honour; it was later renamed Laerskool Westgold.