Love, family and lots of laughter are key to the success of a long marriage.
Jack and Joan Myerscough share a bond that has seen them move countries, have a family and “put up with each other” for more than 75 years.
While not spring chickens anymore, this beautiful couple (Jack, 97 and Joan, 96) marked their 75th wedding anniversary on 23 April and celebrated with family and friends. Jack and Joan, who now reside at Regis in Caboolture, first met at a dance in England, but if you ask Joan, it wasn’t exactly ‘love at first sight’.
“It was a New Year’s do for a place I’d been working at for only a few weeks,” Joan said. “And his (Jack’s) mother worked there. So she’d given him her ticket to go to this big dance, but she wouldn’t be going.
“Jack and his friend that had gone along with him were about to leave because apparently, they didn’t see any nice girls or anything…and he was about to turn away when he saw me standing there. So I danced with him.”
Their daughter Rosemary has a different take on the story.
“The way Dad tells the story is quite different to Mum,” Rosemary said with a smile. “Of course, he was about to leave, but when he saw Mum that was it. He knew she was it for him and this was the woman he was going to marry.”
Celebrating 75 Years of Love and Laughter: The Myerscoughs’ Remarkable Marriage Journey
During the first two years of their relationship, Jack did national service and Joan wrote him letters. Once they married, family was next on the cards. Despite a couple of stillbirths, Joan went on to have five more children, although the last one also died at a young age.
“Mum’s blood type is negative and Dad’s is positive, so they don’t actually mix,” Rosemary said. “So back then they used to be called blue babies and they have to have a blood transfusion as soon as they’re born.”
The young family spent time living in South Africa and also Cyprus before moving to Australia in 1966, settling in Gladstone.
So, what is the secret to a long and happy marriage?
“You just shut your eyes and pray,” Joan said with a laugh.
“I said to Mum they were married so young and then not long after that she had my older siblings, so she couldn’t have been much more than 25 when they uprooted from England and moved to South Africa with three small kids and she had no one but Dad,” Rosemary added. “So she must have had faith and trust in him that he would look after them. Because that’s one hell of a move with young kids where you’ve got no family support.”
They certainly have lots of family around them today, with eight grandkids, 11 great-grandkids and one great-great-grandchild.
“Before he had his stroke a few years ago, Dad used to drive from Caboolture to Stafford every Saturday to roller skate for two hours – that was until he turned 93,” Rosemary said. “I think it’s really great they’ve made it to this age and until quite recently they have both been as fit as a fiddle. They were living independently right up until 12 months ago. “So, it’s fantastic, but really the work ethic and the ethics that they’ve passed down to all of us, it is amazing. They’ve produced some really amazing people because they are amazing people themselves.”
Read more stories from The Caboolture Guide print magazine here:
- Get Up Close and Personal with Aussie Wildlife
- What’s Hot Around Town
- Wellbeing Expo – Family Fun with Heart
- It’s All in the Shed…for Women
- New Menu Delights at Narangba Valley Tavern
- How to Help Your Ageing Parents
- Remembering the Past: The Beerburrum Soldier Settlement
- Should I Pay Down My Home Loan or Invest?
- Grinspoon – Back on Tour at Last!
- Making a Week Without Driving FUN
- Cowboy Stew Recipe
- Barnstorming Weekend Honours Our War Veterans
- Shaping the Future of Housing
- Swing into a Fashion Parade with a Cause
