Camping trip leads to love
The couple, who operated Burrows Newsagency in Drouin for decades, met whilst camping in Lorne over Christmas.
“I thought gee, he’s a good sort,” recalls June of their first meeting. She also liked his dimples now hidden under a beard for the past 40 years.
“She wasn’t a bad sort,” added Bill. “I had my eye on her a few times before then.”
Despite being just 19 and 16 at the time, the couple have enjoyed a strong and happy marriage. They moved from Melbourne to Gippsland, raised four children and June is on her way to beating cancer with Bill’s care on their journey to the milestone anniversary.
The couple, described by many as “joined at the hip”, have enjoyed travel, sporting and community service ventures together. They believe 70 years of marriage is “on the cards”.
After meeting whilst camping, family camping holidays and travelling the width and breadth of Australia are amongst their happiest times.
Bill and June married on November 2, 1957 at All Saints Church in Newtown, Geelong. June was born and raised in Geelong whilst Bill was born in Murrumbeena and lived in South Melbourne.
They were married two years after meeting at the ages of 21 and 18. Their first child was born nine months and two weeks after the wedding.
“We were very young,” said June. were young and sensible.”
The couple first lived in Clayton but soon the country beckoned as a good place to raise their family.
The settled in Leongatha, running the town’s newsagency for 15 years.
“Funnily enough, one of the places we looked at (settling) was Drouin,” said June. “So we nearly landed 15 years prior.”
Despite June being terrified at the thought of leaving Leongatha, the family eventually made the move to Drouin.
“We thought we might stay at least three years, and here we are still years later and we’re very happy in Drouin,” said June.
The couple “retired” from Burrows Newsagency 10 years ago with their son taking over. As a result, Bill still worked Saturdays and filled in.
The newsagency changed hands three years ago.
“It was sad stopping that actually,” said Bill. “I enjoyed still catching up with old customers.”
The couple have always been community “But we A Yarragon café has been given a permit for a liquor licence. minded, with Bill living by the motto “get involved”.
Both have a long list of community service and have been awarded the Paul Harris Fellow by Drouin Rotary.
Bill’s community service includes both Leongatha and Drouin Jaycees, Leongatha and Drouin Chamber of Commerce, an inaugural member of Committee for Drouin and maintenance man at the Anglican Church.
A common phrase heard from his grandchildren is “Pa will fix it” and he enjoys flying model planes.
June was in Drouin CWA, Drouin Inner Wheel, Lyrebird Village Committee and performed with Baw Baw Singers and Performing Arts Group in Warragul.
She also started a book club which has run for 30 years and enjoys staying young by learning computer skills from her grandchildren.
Both play with Keenagers Table Tennis in Drouin.
Bill and June celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with about 80 family and friends at Warragul Country Club on Sunday, November 5. They marked their actual anniversary with lunch alongside their children.
The couple has four children Mark, Debbie, Kim and Liza, 11 grandchildren and five greatgrandchildren.
Bill said the secret to a long marriage was facing the difficult times together.
“We’ve had a really happy time but you do have your sadness,” said Bill.
The couple had a baby boy die at birth, parent deaths and different illnesses.
“We’ve had our share between us,” added Bill. “We’ve been unlucky but we’ve been very fortunate because we’ve come through together.”
“I think you have to really like each other,” said June. “We do like doing a lot of things together.”