A love that started with a chance meeting as teenagers in a café has led to Frank and Marjorie Noy celebrating 70 years of marriage.
The couple, who live at the Carinity Shalom retirement village in Rockhampton, were married on 23 May 1953.
Marjorie told the CQ Today newspaper that she and Frank first met in a café in Springsure, south of Emerald, in 1949.
“Friday was payday and my girlfriends and I always went to the café for an ice cream soda on Fridays because that was all we could afford,” she said.
“Frank and his mate were there and asked if we were going to the dance that night, and it all started from there.”
The couple married in Springsure Presbyterian Church. Frank was 22 years old and Marjorie was 19. They later lived in Emerald and in 1959 transferred to Rockhampton, where Frank worked for the railway.
The pair said their married life had been “absolutely wonderful”. They have enjoyed dancing, tennis, indoor bowls, and taking overseas holidays together.
They have fond memories of trips to New Zealand, England, Europe, Hawaii, Hong Kong and China, which Marjorie says “was the biggest adventure in my life”.
Frank said the secret to the couple’s happy marriage was to never do anything “unless the both of us agreed to do it”.
“If she wanted anything she’d ask me and if I wanted anything I’d ask her and we’d decide yes or no,” Frank said.
The Noys have lived at the Carinity Shalom retirement village for 11 years.
“Living here is like living with a family, we all help one another. There’s no better place to spend your eventide years,” Marjorie said.
“I think our love is deeper than it ever was, we’re very good friends as well as good companions now and we just love our life here.”
