And she would know - yesterday she and husband Jack (95) celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
"It's give and take,'' Mrs Unsworth (91) said of the secret to a long marriage.
"I think it's luck, to a large degree.''
The Mosgiel pair, then a shorthand typist and marine electrician respectively, met at a dance, "as people did in that generation'', and were married about 18 months later, in 1949, she said.
But their wedding in the Wellington suburb of Johnsonville did not go without a hitch.
"Everyone was lined up and waiting in the church, but there was no minister,'' Mr Unsworth said.
"We found out the minister was away, and they got a replacement to stand in, and he'd forgotten about it and he was out in the garden, gardening.
"When he turned up at the church, he still had his gardening boots on.''
The pair went on to have three daughters, six grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
They have lived in several parts of New Zealand, including Dunedin for 20 years.
They went to Auckland after that, but returned to Dunedin when they retired.
The couple have left their mark on the city.
Mr Unsworth was a member of the Green Island Borough Council, and Unsworth St is named after him.
They received cards and congratulatory messages from a host of dignitaries to mark their milestone, including Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy, Dunedin Mayor Aaron Hawkins, Dunedin South MP Clare Curran, and Minister for Seniors Tracey Martin.
They also received a card from Queen Elizabeth II, who was engaged to the now Duke of Edinburgh around the same time they were engaged.
"But they were married earlier I believe, because royalty had very short engagements in case they changed their mind,'' Mrs Unsworth said, laughing.
