Today Des and Relda Prendergast, aged 90 and 89 respectively, celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary.
‘‘Give and take is what has made our marriage last. We don’t always agree but we agree to disagree. Common sense has also played an important part of our marriage,’’ Des said.
‘‘Never go to bed on an argument is another of the secrets of a long marriage,’’ Relda said
Des is from Ashburton and spent his career working at the post office, firstly in the postal area before moving into the service’s banking side.
Relda was born in Christchurch. Her family moved to Ashburton, where she undertook her secondary schooling. Her working life was spent as a shorthand typist for a stock firm.
The pair attended college together but didn’t know each other at the time. They met while playing tennis for the former Te Marae Tennis Club in Ashburton about 75 years ago.
The couple married at the Church of the Holy Name in Ashburton. Relda recalls the priest telling her very clearly prior to the ceremony not to be late. As committed as she was to abiding by this, she unfortunately was unable to do so on the day.
‘‘A friend of Des’s was going to drop him at the church and then come and pick me up. All the guests were waiting, wondering where I was, when the friend remembered he was meant to pick me up. I ended up being very late for our wedding,’’ Relda said.
Relda and Des dated for about five years before getting engaged. They married two-and-a-half years later, by which time they had already built their marital home.
‘‘We started married life in this street and then for retirement we moved back on to the property I grew up on,’’ said Des. This property was on the same street, Walshs Rd. It is where they still reside today, so for their whole married life they have lived on the same street.
The couple have four sons and 14 grandchildren.
Sport and travel have played an important role in their lives. They both continue to play outdoor bowls. They were at the Ashburton Bowling Club’s 100th celebrations, and are still playing today as the club prepares to celebrate 125 years.
Other sports they have played include netball, rugby and table tennis.
They have travelled through Europe and are frequent travellers and explorers of Australia, where they have two sons living.
Last year, it was 15 years since all the family had been together, so they gathered in August for Des’s 90th, and to have an early celebration of the couple’s upcoming sapphire wedding anniversary.
