Bill and Anne Martin say the secret to 73 years of marriage is companionship and not arguing too much. Photo/Michael Cunningham
Bill and Anne Martin say the secret to 73 years of marriage is companionship and not arguing too much. Photo/Michael Cunningham
Seventy three years ago Bill Martin married the girl across the road.
He was 13 when he first met then 10-year-old Anne Kennedy. He would mow her share of the lawns at her Te Kopuru house and she quite fancied that.
"We used to go for bike rides on Sundays,it gave us something to do. I loved the friendship," said Mr Martin.
And Mrs Martin's thoughts: "He's a bit of a brute. He didn't drink and he didn't smoke and he mowed my half of the lawns while my sister did the rest."
It was this blossoming friendship that led Mr Martin to propose to Mrs Martin at the Auckland Wintergardens - he thinks the year was 1943 - she said yes.
"I remember thinking she looked gorgeous," he said.
A photo of Bill and Anne Martin on their wedding day, which was also Mrs Martin's 19th birthday.
The couple, now 96 and 92, have a good sense of humour and still make each other laugh.
When the staff at the Radius Potter Home brought out a cake the couple were quick to point out it was short of about 63 candles.
"There's not enough candles, there's only a few," said Mr Martin.
The couple lived all over Northland including Te Kopuru and Whangarei. Mr Martin worked as carpenter and Mrs Martin in a grocery store.
The pair had their first child, Robert, in 1945. Twin girls named Delma and Fay followed in 1947 and their youngest boy Donald, who died aged 63, was born in 1949.
Now the pair have 33 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
"We're a well knitted family. If we wanted to go anywhere they would come with us and if they wanted to go anywhere we'd go with them," he said.
The couple said for fun they played a lot of sports.
"I played bowls, netball, basketball or whatever," Mrs Martin said.
"And of course we used to go to the beach together and do a lot of fishing," Mr Martin said.
While they never played sports against each other Mr Martin reckoned his wife would win if they were to.
Now the couple are often found sitting in "our seat" at the Radius Potter Home and three days a week they're playing bingo for a chance to win chocolate and chips.
Their secret to a long marriage?
"Companionship," said Mr Martin.
"Never had rows, never argue. Well we do a bit, but nothing major, that's just life," Mrs Martin said.
