By Sheree Hoddinett
Love, family and lots of laughter are key to the success of a long marriage. Jack and Joan Myerscough share a bond that has seen them move countries, have a family and “put up with each other” (Joan’s words) for more than 75 years.
While definitely not spring chickens anymore, this beautiful couple (Jack 97 and Joan 96) marked their 75th wedding anniversary on April 23 and had a celebration with family and friends. Jack and Joan, who now reside at Regis in Caboolture, first met at a dance (like many people did in those days) in England, but it wasn’t exactly ‘love at first sight’, if you ask Joan anyway.
“It was a New Year’s do for a place I’d been working at for only a few weeks,” Joan said. “And his (Jack’s) mother worked there. So she'd given him her ticket to go to this big dance, but she wouldn't be going.
“Jack and his friend that had gone along with him were about to leave because apparently they didn’t see any nice girls or anything…and he was about to turn away when he saw me standing there. So I danced with him.”
Their daughter Rosemary has a slightly different take on the story.
“The way dad tells the story is quite different to mum,” Rosemary said with a smile. “Of course he was about to leave, but when he saw mum that was it. He knew she was it for him and this was the woman he was going to marry.”
The first two years of their relationship Jack spent doing national service with Joan writing him letters as was the way back then. Once they married, family was next on the cards. Despite a couple of stillbirths, Joan went on to have five more children, although the last one also died at a young age.
“Mum’s blood type is negative and dad's is positive, so they don't actually mix,” Rosemary said. “So back then they used to be called blue babies and they have to have a blood transfusion as soon as they're born.”
The young family spent time living in South Africa and also Cyprus before moving out to Australia in 1966, settling in Gladstone. So, what is the secret to a long and happily married life together?
“You just shut your eyes and pray,” Joan said with a laugh.
“I said to mum they were married so young and then not long after that she had my older siblings, so she couldn't have been much more than 25 when they uprooted from England and moved to South Africa with three small kids and she had no one but Dad,” Rosemary added. “So she must have had faith and trust in him that he would look after them. Because that's one hell of a move with young kids where you've got no family support.”
They certainly have a lot of family around them today. There are eight grandkids in the mix, 11 great-grandkids and one great-great-grandchild.
Although Jack is fairly quiet these days, would you believe up until a few years ago, he was still able to roller skate?
“Before he had his stroke a few years ago, dad used to drive from Caboolture to Stafford every Saturday to roller skate for two hours, that was until he turned 93,” Rosemary said. “He even had his 90th birthday party at the skate rink. Halfway through the morning, they got everyone to leave the floor and they get all the birthday people out, so all the young kids and they also announced that it was big Jack’s 90th birthday and the whole place erupted, because everyone knew dad, he’d even taught heaps of young kids how to skate.”
Although Joan jokingly admits that she “would have been glad” if he fell over, she definitely never wanted Jack to hurt himself while skating.
“I wouldn’t want him to get hurt,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. “He was maybe a little too confident at times.”
Watching on as her parents have reached such a big milestone in their marriage as well as reaching such a mature age, Rosemary hopes the genetics continue to pass down the line.
“I think it’s really great they’ve made it to this age and until quite recently they have both been as fit as a fiddle. They were living independently right up until 12 months ago,” Rosemary said.
“So it's fantastic, but really the work ethic and the ethics that they've passed down to all of us, it is amazing. They've produced some really amazing people because they are amazing people themselves.”
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