Bike ride leads to 70 years marriage
by Emma Ballingall Setting off on a six-mile bike ride to a local church service, neither Don or Merle Henry would have believed a marriage lasting 70 years was on the cards.
In the aftermath of World War II, Don was living in Mountain View and Merle in the nearby Danish settlement Triholm when their paths first crossed in a milking shed.
“That’s where I met her at her sister’s place. She was milking the cows there,” said Don. “I thought she was a nice young girl.”
22-year-old Don asked 20year-old Merle to a local dance and, after attending the church service, the romance blossomed into what is now a 70-year marriage.
Now living in Drouin, the couple marked the amazing anniversary last Tuesday – July 24. A party was held a few days prior at the Drouin Presbyterian Church Hall.
Don and Merle married at a small church in Ranceby on July 24, 1948 before moving to a Labertouche dairy farm a year later.
Don recalls they had $500 to their name to set up the farm.
As for Merle, she remembers it as a different time with the property having no electricity.
“I had to boil the clothes to wash them and the toilet was in the backyard,” she said.
They spent 38 years milking Holsteins and raising eight boys.
Merle said the secret to a long marriage was “hard work, on the farm anyway. We never had time to go out much.”
In fact, it was 17 years after getting married that the couple, together with six of their eight boys, were able to enjoy a holiday.
Burnt out from the farm, Don and Merle moved to Healesville to undertake voluntary Christian work at a guest house for 13 years.
Don remembers it as “some of the best days of our life” as the couple worked and enjoyed trips around Australia.
They have now been in Drouin for the past 20 years and enjoy pursuing creative talents.
Reflecting upon 70 years of marriage, Merle said “it’s a bit exciting in a way”. “We are blessed,” added Don.
The anniversary party was attended by the couple’s six surviving sons George, Ivan, Ross, Paul, Michael and Wayne, and many of their 16 grandchildren and 11 greatgrandchildren.