"I was a pretty shy guy. It took me weeks and weeks to ask her to go out and that's when I cornered her in the cool room."
They courted for two years before getting married when George was 22 and Dawn nearly 21 years old.
"It took Dawn about six months to kiss me," George said, though Dawn insisted she didn't hold out for that long.
Dawn said she remembers waiting outside the factory for George one time.
When her grandfather found out who she was waiting for he told her not to wait for him: "He's a waste of time, he'll never amount to anything."
George proved him wrong, spurred on by his wife: he spent 43 years in the dairy industry, 27 years with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and ended up director of the dairy division.
As a young man George had a fixation, of sorts, on long-legged blondes, but what he married was better than any tall blonde, and the 65 years of love and support Dawn provided was testament to that.
"She was always there when you needed her," he said.
A major part of why they had lasted together for so long was their deep-rooted Christian faith and discipline.
"There's a lot of discipline in a marriage. I think all people go through marriage with some differences but I always had the last say and I said nothing.
"You don't just walk away from marriage," George said.
"My mother told me you needn't come back home because I'll just send you right back," Dawn said.
The couple shifted around the country at least 20 times with their two children before retiring in Tauranga 30 years ago.
In 1968 they were living in Christchurch and on April 9 Dawn dropped George off in Lyttelton to catch the passenger ferry Wahine to Wellington.
George survived the worst maritime disaster in New Zealand history.
Dawn was left waiting at home wondering if George had drowned. The telegram saying he was all right was delayed.
"I think Dawn was more worried about me going into the water with my best suit on," George said.
Surrounded by friends at Copper Crest retirement village the McMillans celebrated their 65th anniversary yesterday.
