Married and there for each other for 60 years

Lex and Lorna Meikle celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary today. Photo by Sally Rae.
Lex and Lorna Meikle celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary today. Photo by Sally Rae.
An excerpt from Lex Meikle's diary 60 years ago reads, "I got hitched. I hope I did the right thing."

"He doesn't know what I put in mine," his wife Lorna said, laughing, as the couple prepared to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary today.

Mr and Mrs Meikle, who met in the toll room at the Oamaru Post Office, were married at St Luke's Church at Oamaru on August 14, 1948.

Mr Meikle, who turns 88 this month, grew up on a farm at Maerewhenua, while Mrs Meikle (83), nee Ericson, moved around when she was young as her father worked on the railways.

She moved to Oamaru when she was 10.

It was a traditional white wedding, followed by a reception at the Star and Garter, and the newlyweds spent their honeymoon in the North Island.

They settled on a farm at Rosebery, which Mr Meikle had drawn in a ballot after World War 2, and Mrs Meikle was thrown headfirst into farming life, from feeding pet lambs to cooking on a coal range.

"She could boil an egg but not a great deal else. She was a fast learner," Mr Meikle said.

The couple had four sons - Trevor, Barry, Geoff and Ross - and now have seven grandsons and one granddaughter, and 14 great-grandchildren, with another due in October.

They have both been involved in community groups and organisations, with Mrs Meikle being made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the Queen's Birthday Honours in 1999 for services to the community.

Mrs Meikle said the pair had always been there for one another and she could not believe they had been married 60 years.

There had been a lot of laughter over the years and they had always done things together.

They had also been blessed with a "lovely" family, she said.

A keen gardener, Mr Meikle believed the key to good health was fresh vegetables and they ate vegetables from their garden at Weston every day.

 

Add a Comment