Eyes first met at dancing school

Northeast Valley residents Gordon  (83) and Betty Renwick (81) reflect on 60 years of marriage....
Northeast Valley residents Gordon (83) and Betty Renwick (81) reflect on 60 years of marriage. Photo by Peter McIntosh.
After being married for 60 years, Dunedin residents Betty and Gordon Renwick are still cheerfully completing each other's sentences, and often instinctively know what their spouse is thinking before anything is said.

Their eyes first met when they were learning ballroom dancing at Miss Wallace's School of Dancing near the Exchange when they were in their early 20s.

And after that first attraction, and quite a few dances later, they realised they actually had quite a bit in common.

As Mr Renwick puts it, both were practical people - he was initially an electrician, later becoming head of lighting at TV One's Dowling St studios, in Dunedin, retiring from there in 1990.

And Mrs Renwick is a fine home cook and baker, among other talents.

They have lived all their married life in Montague St, Northeast Valley, and in retirement have continued to find they have much to share.

Both keen gardeners, they work in the garden together. They say their recipe for marital success is good communication and working in well with the other person. ''Don't bottle anything up,'' Mr Renwick said.

Any differences were talked out by the end of the day, and they then began the new day with a positive approach.

''We never ever go to sleep bearing a grudge,'' he says.

Their 60th wedding anniversary was marked at a function late last week and friends and family, including from the North Island, have gathered to attend a series of celebration events, including a restaurant dinner on Saturday.

Adding to the excitement of their diamond anniversary, there have been congratulatory cards from the Queen, the Governor General and the Prime Minister.

Mrs Renwick praises their ''very good family'', including their four children.

They had enjoyed seeing their children, Kevin Renwick and Brenda Feyen, both of Cromwell, Graham Renwick, of Owaka, and Barry Renwick, of Dunedin, and their younger relatives.

 

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