Catherine Elizabeth (Trienke) Laurie was born in Cape Town on 10 May 1946.

She also obtained an Education Diploma as a high school teacher in Afrikaans, History and Art.

Five sons (Henri, Diederik, Dirk Pieter, Van Reenen and Kestell) were born.

The family lived in Pretoria for fifteen years and then moved to Vanderbijlpark, where her husband became a professor of mathematics at the Vaal Triangle campus of Potchefstroom University.

Honors degree in Afrikaans and Dutch, which she obtained with honours in 1991 at the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education.