EVELYN.THORN@cluthaleader.co.nz
One look at the new girl over the road in 1961 and Bob was adamant he was going to marry her.
Balclutha couple Bob and Anne Richardson — who are now 82 and 80 respectively — got married 60 years ago today and they are celebrating.
Bob was working at the paper mill in Mataura when he saw the new office girl, Anne Frain, who was working the photocopiers.
‘‘I went into the drawing office and asked her to come along to one of the paper mill’s social club events,’’ Mr Richardson said.
‘‘I remember Bob’s cousin came to me and asked if Bob had asked me to come along to the social club yet — to which I said no, he hadn’t. He must’ve gotten a kick to go do it as he was quite shy then, because not long later he asked me,’’ Mrs Richardson said.
‘‘We kind of went with the flow since then.
‘‘We got engaged three months into our relationship, which did cause a bit of eyebrow raising. But we’re here, 60 years later,’’ Mrs Richardson said.
The pair were well-known for doubling up on Mr Richardson’s bike back in the day, which they later learned was ‘‘quite amusing’’ to locals at the time.
They used to go to the local milkbar and share a milkshake and ‘‘feed the jukebox’’,Mr Richardson said.
The pair got married in the Mataura Presbyterian Church in 1963 with a group of 120 friends and family, and Mrs Richardson’s brother-in-law gave her away, as her parents were living in England at the time.
‘‘My brother-in-law actually sponsored me and assisted in getting me the job at the office,’’ she said.
The couple have a five-minute film taken at their wedding but were not allowed to have cameras out in the church during the ceremony.
Mr Richardson said a humorous moment at their wedding was the shocked look on his parents’ face when they learned the wedding meal wasn’t stew and potatoes.
‘‘Dad had spies out throughout the day making sure I wasn’t getting drunk,’’ Mr Richardson joked.
Mr Richardson worked at Finegand for a lot of his life and Mrs Richardson travelled to Gore to work as a solicitor until their retirements.
They have three children — Valerie, Dave and Susan.
When asked their secret to 60 years of marriage, the pair answered the same — being in love with each other, and falling deeper in love all the time.
‘‘You keep right on until the end of the road — times change, people change, but you change together,’’ Mr Richardson said.
‘‘We have both supported each other in financial ways in different times in our lives.
‘‘Marriage is a partnership together.’’
