Goya Dmytryshchak
They met when he started prep school and last Thursday they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.
Altona North’s Marjorie and Barry Bennett, aged 83 and 81, respectively, first laid eyes on each other at Kingsville State School.
“I’m two years older than him so I knew all the run of the school, I helped him when he started so he knew what to do,” Mrs Bennett said.
“From then on, we were friends, and then we became involved in the YMCA.”
Mr Bennett said they spent much of their teenage years at Kingsville YMCA, which was the first to provide co-ed membership in those days.
It was there that romance blossomed.
The couple wed on February 25, 1961, in Kingsville.
Mrs Bennett worked as a dressmaker while Mr Bennett managed airport electrical facilities with the Department of Civil Aviation.
They share a son and a daughter, and seven grandchildren.
When asked the secret to a long marriage, Mr Bennett joked: “Say yes”.
“We always have our tiffles but if you be honest with each other – no secrets – it doesn’t matter,” he said.
“We had no secrets whatsoever.”
Mrs Bennett said the pair shared many social interests, including a love of football and the Bulldogs, whose paraphernalia adorns the home they have lived in since 1962.
She said good communication was key to their marriage.
“When things happen, we can talk about them and sort them out,” she said.
“We don’t carry any grudges, we open up and we talk about it.
“We’ve done most things together.”
