From primary school to 70 years of marriage
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Drouin residents Hazel and John Hedley celebrated the momentous event of their 70th wedding anniversary with family and friends over the Easter weekend. Such a milestone only occurs in 0.1 per cent of marriages - or one in a thousand.
Hazel and John have known each other for more than 80 years, having grown up within a few kilometres of each other at Ripplebrook and Drouin South. They went to Drouin South Primary School during the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Sources within the family suggest that in their teens John was known to have remarked
“I’m going to marry that girl one day!” This proved a prophetic statement from John, as “after a few diversions over the years” he asked Hazel for her hand in marriage after a dance at the Athlone Hall.
Hazel recalls the proposal took place in the romantic setting of John’s Morris utility sometime in 1953. “I don’t think he believed me when I said yes as he asked me to marry him about three times!” says Hazel. They were married at the Drouin Methodist Church on April 3, 1954.
Hazel’s sisters Jean and Lois, and brother George Cheetham along with best man Noel Murphy attended the couple. A surviving member of the wedding party is Hazel’s cousin Heather Hedley.
The newlyweds moved into a house that John built in Drouin and they brought three children Jeanette, Debbie and Stuart - into the world. Hazel and John now have eight grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. The family lived in this house for 54 years before Hazel and John moved to their current home in 2007. Now both 93, they continue to live independently and in good health.
Following Drouin South Primary, John attended Warragul High School before undertaking a building apprenticeship with a business in Drouin. He worked as a builder for many years before becoming involved in the trucking industry.
After school, Hazel worked as a mender at the weaving mill in Drouin until they were married. Hazel is renowned in the Drouin district for her life of service and in 2007 she was rewarded for this by being nominated for Victorian Senior Citizen of the year.
Hazel has worked tirelessly as a volunteer for most of her life - working and volunteering for meals on wheels, the Salvation Army, Uncle Bob’s, the Royal Children’s Hospital Appeal, the Lions Club and Blood Bank to name a few.
Hazel and John played tennis together in earlier years before later sharing a passion for lawn bowls at Drouin Bowls Club, where John is a life member.
This hobby led to many happy years in retirement holidaying in Narooma where they enjoyed the bowls club there and in surrounding towns.
Special memories for Hazel and John include a visit to the USA to a building conference in the 1970s.
However Hazel says the adventure of a lifetime came for them in 2013 when they travelled throughout Europe with family - taking in the UK, France and Italy.
They both remember the end of the war - Hazel says she remembers getting a day off school when peace was declared. Another of her great memories was a trip with her family across the Nullarbor Plain in 1953 - a trip that took six weeks. Absence must have made the heart grow fond as this was just prior to her and John’s engagement following the Athlone dance.
Both are avid readers and John is irritable if he does not get to read his daily newspaper.
The common question that is always asked is - how does one explain such a long, healthy and successful partnership. Both say they always remained active, and followed a good diet. “We never ate much junk food,” says John. They both agree that being constantly engaged in the community has also been crucial to a long and happy life.