'All worth it': Couple celebrate platinum wedding anniversary

A simple invitation to dance has blossomed into seven decades of marriage and togetherness for a former Cheviot couple, Bruce and Rosemary Childs.

Early one morning in 1948, 20-year-old Rosemary Thacker began a journey that would change her life forever.

Invited to a birthday party, she travelled the 180km from her family home at Okains Bay to Cheviot.

‘‘It was a very long day in the buses, on gravel roads, but it was all worth it,’’ she says.

At the party, 19-year-old Cheviot farmhand Bruce Childs asked her to dance.

‘‘She was lovely, and we danced all night, I didn’t want to let her go,” he said.

Over the next four years, the young couple maintained a long-distance courtship via letters and the odd meeting.

Bruce stayed working in the Hurunui district and says he would only get a mail delivery once every two to three weeks on some jobs, but her letters were worth the wait.

‘‘When I had earned enough, I bought an old Morris 8 two-door car and would drive for hours down to her parent's place just to see her,’’ Bruce said.

On Saturday, October 18, 1952, the blushing bride wore a lovely pale blue wedding dress down the aisle at the St Johns Church at Okains Bay.

‘‘I have never suited white and while it shocked some of the 150 guests, my parents were okay with it and I loved it,’’ Rosemary said.

More than 70 of Bruce’s family made the long trek to Okains Bay and everyone enjoyed the party held under a large marquee at the Thacker family farm, Rowandale.

The Akaroa News later dedicated three columns to describing the wedding in detail, right down to what the mother-in-laws' wore.

Bruce and Rosemary returned to the childs family farm, Fernhill, near Cheviot, which his grandfather had been balloted after WW1.

Rosemary said she didn’t know anyone so she quickly joined the Country Women's Institute at Domett and began an active role in the local Anglican church.

The couple leased the 1200-acre (485.6ha) family sheep farm in 1958 and eventually bought it outright early in the 1960s.

“We built our first home in 1965 by digging into the top of a hill as there was no other flat land on the property located between Gore Bay and the Hurunui River,” said Rosemary.

There the couple raised their three children before retiring to properties in the Cheviot and Geraldine areas before finally entering a rest-home in Ilam, Christchurch.

But their story didn’t end there.

Bruce and Rosemary credit the longevity of their union to strong faith and belief. Both were very active members of their local church.

While Rosemary worked with young mothers and wives, Bruce was a lay reader before the parish chose him to become the Anglican minister in Cheviot.

“I changed my flock from Corriedales to people and had a wonderful time,” he says.

A role he thoroughly enjoyed for 15 years.

“It was funny, most ministers were thinking about retiring when I was just starting,” he said.

Giving of time and respect are two of the reasons Rosemary gives to explain how they had lasted 70 years.

“It’s all about tolerance and faith, everyone is different and you have to learn to be tolerant of each other,” she said.

Now in their 90s and courtesy of a fall or two, the couple live 60m apart in a retirement facility.

Every day Rosemary rises and walks down the hall to Bruce’s room and welcomes him with a kiss on the cheek.

They spend their days together watching TV or doing crafts. The couple plan to return to the newly renovated St Johns Church in Okains Bay on October 18 with family and friends.