Locals Des and Betty Donohoe recently celebrated 70 years of marriage, marking the occasion with a family lunch at the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens Café 1928.
The couple tied the knot on 7 November 1953 and went on to have seven children, 24 grandchildren and 49 great grandchildren.
Five of their children joined them at the lunch where Mayor Jack Dempsey was also on hand to congratulate them on the significant milestone.
Des and Betty first met in the Boyne Valley where both their parents were dairy farmers.
Betty recalled how they had seen each other at dances held in the local hall when they were 16 and 18 years old.
“We had all our dances out there,” Betty said.
“I thought ‘Oh well he doesn’t look too bad you know!’”
The pair were married two years later.
“He worked on his father’s farm and I worked at the shop in Ubobo, there was a post office store and I also worked in the exchange,” Betty said.
The couple bought their own dairy farm in Cedarvale in 1961 where they lived and worked until 1980 before moving to South Kolan.
They went on to do everything from renovating houses to picking fruit in Victoria and New South Wales to travelling all over Australia and abroad.
“I tell everyone we’ve been down the Catacombs of Rome and up the Eiffel Tower,” Des said, adding that their favourite place to visit had been New Zealand.
“It’s been a great life!” Des said.
These days the two enjoy spending time with family and playing cards together.
Des said his main hobby was faceting stones while Betty liked to garden and research the family tree.
When asked what the secret was to such a long and happy marriage, Betty said it was not to let disagreements linger.
“Everyone has their arguments at times, but we finish them off and that’s it,” she said.
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