On Thursday, April 13 the couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.
Meeting at the Trocadero Dance Hall, Rockingham Beach Road (it was demolished in 2009) on Easter Saturday the couple spent a memorable Easter period together.
“The next day we went to the Midnight Dances in Mandurah and our first date was on April Fool’s Day,” said Lorraine.
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READ NOW“It was on the Monday after the Mandurah Dance. I said yes but the trouble was he expected me to pack the picnic!”
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Grinning, David interjected. “It’s all lies,” he said.
The couple married one year and 12 days after they first met.
“My father gave us the choice of a large wedding or a small wedding and money. So we took the latter,” she said.
“We borrowed my dad’s car and headed up to the Narrogin Inn. David said it would be a nice quiet place to go. But when we got there the place was full and loud as they were celebrating the inn’s 100th birthday.
“David stuck his head in the pub and everyone knew him.”
Perhaps it was David’s refrigeration work at the Swan Brewery that gained him his notoriety. “Everyone knew Smithy,” she said.
“As everyone knew we had been married that day some of them stood out the front and began playing the bagpipes and drums.”
Dancing became a popular social outing for the pair who would go with a big group of friends to the Pagoda Ballroom in Como.
“The guys made a deal that they would only go to the Pagoda if they could take a five gallon keg with them – and yes they would drink the whole thing in a night,” she said.
The couple believe working together and laughing has kept them together.
“We have had a pretty full-on life – yes, we have had some fun,” said David.
Lorraine agreed. “Through the years we have laughed a lot, fought a lot and have had days where we didn’t talk to each other,” she said.
“That’s possibly because he can’t hear me anymore – yes it’s been delightful. If you can’t have a laugh and can’t sling off at each other you won’t survive.”
They have three sons John, Bruce, Ronald and Ian, who unfortunately died several hours after birth.
They have one grandson, Matthew, and three granddaughters – Tayla, Elyse and Daniela.
The couple celebrated their anniversary at the Narrogin Inn on Thursday.