Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Norah, 100, to wed her toyboy, 74
He proposes after 30 years
OLD romantic Malcolm Yates has at last got down on bended knee to propose to his 100-year-old girlfriend Norah Witkiss, after 30 years.
Malcolm, 74, will wed the love of his life just weeks before she turns 101.
Former school cook Norah, who is twice widowed, said: “We just thought we’d get married now before it’s too late.
“I was worried about me getting older and I didn’t want to lose the opportunity. I’m sure we’ll be happy. We’re really looking forward to it.” The couple, of Prestatyn, North Wales, met “30-odd years ago” through their love of dancing.
Former bus driver Malcolm said: “We met at modern sequence dancing. I couldn’t dance but Norah was very good at it. She more or less taught me and helped bring me on.
“We went travelling a lot and would dance on holidays to Torquay.
“We liked the cha-cha-cha the best. “We’re always out and about together.” Mum-of-one Norah, who was born in December 1917, married her first husband Fred Thomas at the age of 18.
After he died in 1970 she met Bert Witkiss and they were married for 16 years before he died in the late 1980s.
She later found love again with Malcolm, who had never been married.
The great-grandmother, who received a card from the Queen for her 100th birthday last year, said: “I’ve had a very good life really, I’ve enjoyed it.
“I love meeting people and talking to people. I enjoyed working and going out, I never stopped. I was always on the go. I used to go out dancing with the girls.”
She added: “I liked it – especially if a chap picked you up. I don’t dance any more because I can’t turn and I’m afraid of falling over.
“But nobody believes me when I tell them I am 100, they think I’m joking. I don’t feel 100, that’s the main thing.”
The couple will be joined by family and friends for their big day at a hotel in their seaside town next month.