On The Up: Tauranga couple celebrate 73 years married

Noeline Murray, 93, and Ken Murray, 96, were married in 1952 and have been married for 73 years. Photo / Kaitlyn Morrell

It was 1947, two years after the end of World War II, when Noeline and Ken Murray met.

Five years later, in 1952, they married, and the rest was history as the pair has just marked a milestone 73 years of marriage.

Loving and respecting each other are what the two told the Bay of Plenty Times was their secret to a happy long-lasting marriage.

The couple, who are now 93 and 96 and live in Tauranga, said they met at a motor camp where both their families used to go on holidays.

“It was around Christmas time, just after the war, when things were pretty strict,” Noeline said.

“We sort of got to know each other over two weeks, and then we did it again the following year.”

She said before the couple left the camp, Ken said he’d ring her, they’d have a date, and then by May, they were engaged.

“He rang me on a Wednesday, and we met on a Friday night, I think it was, we just walked around town and looked at shops because that’s what you did in those days,” Noeline said.

“There was nothing much on except for movies or dances, and he didn’t dance at the time.”

“I had 3 left feet,” Ken said with a laugh.

He said they had been together for “quite a while”, and during his birthday in May, he popped the question.

Noeline and Ken on their wedding day on April 19 1952. Photo / Supplied

“I think it was just her nature, you’d come across some girls who were so picky and bossy but Noeline, she was just right.”

They were engaged for two years. Ken said he wouldn’t marry Noeline until he bought a house.

“I saw this house advertised in Island Bay [Wellington], we worked out we could get it and I told Noeline, which she then asked, ‘When do you want to get married?’ and I said, ‘Pretty quickly, why wait? ’”

“The house cost 2800 pounds, which was a lot of money in those days,” Ken said.

On April 19, 1952, Ken and Noeline tied the knot.

They moved to Tauranga in 1987, where the pair has been living together ever since.

When asked what their secret was, Ken said they never fought and had always “discussed things”.

“If neither of us didn’t like something, we didn’t argue, we just respected each other,” he said.

Noeline said if things ever got really bad, she would think about his good points and what his bad points were.

“I always did that, gave myself the time to think about these things, and he always won with the good bits, I was lucky there,” she said.

The pair said their secret to a happy, lasting marriage was just loving and respecting each other. Photo / Supplied

“It’s nothing spectacular, we just love each other.”

Ken and Noeline do everything together, from gardening to baking, and they both said living together was still one of their most treasured memories.

“Just living together, and having that someone you can depend on and love,” Noeline said.

“We just suit each other, we were the lucky ones, and it’s not always like that, you don’t always find out until later when you’ve been living with it.”

“We wake up every morning together, which is the main thing,” Ken said.

The pair has four children, three boys and a girl, five grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.

Barbara Leask, their youngest daughter, described her parents’ marriage as two cogs that worked perfectly together.

“They’re joined at the hip, but are also different people; they’re an oxymoron ... but have an enduring love.

“They’re individuals but work as one.”

Leask said when she was younger, every morning Ken left to take the tram to work, Noeline would walk him to the door.

Ken and Noeline on their daughter Barbara's wedding day. Photo / Supplied

“They’d have a kiss, he’d go, she’d wave, and then during the day, dad would ring to see how mum was doing.

“Then every evening when he was due home, she’d be at the door waiting for him and greet him with a kiss, which they still do.”

She said her parents were generous to “a fault” and were both kind and empathetic.

“They both had kind of difficult childhoods, and yet they haven’t been a victim, they’ve just learned from the role and improved on it.

“They really are amazing role models.”

As Noeline and Ken head into their 74th year of marriage, the pair said they were proud of each other for “hanging on so long”.

“Any couple starting out should respect each other, and not fight all the time”, Ken said.

“Don’t rush into things.”

“You don’t know how others are,” Noeline said.

“But we have had some really fun times.”

Kaitlyn Morrell is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.