“I had transferred from Kerang because I didn’t like the school there,” Mr Smith said.
It was a similar story for Mrs Smith, nee Anderson.
“It was my first school. I applied for a country school, but I was appointed to Collingwood Girls School,” she said.
“I didn’t want to stay in the city, so I did a swap with a teacher who was at St Arnaud. She went to Collingwood and I went to St Arnaud and met my fate.”
Mrs Smith said she formed an instant connection with Mr Smith on the first day at her new school.
“My first day there I was put in charge of quite a large class, and it was a big school so there was quite a bit to do.
“Keith was sent in to help me because I was a new teacher and that’s how we met.”
The couple soon began dating.
Mr Smith was one of the few teachers who owned a car and would take Mrs Smith to Saturday night dances in town.
“We had similar interests,” she said.
“We both belonged to the drama group, we both played tennis and we did a lot of things together.
“Then the footy season started and Keith played for St Arnaud, so we used to go to the footy matches together.”
In no time the couple was engaged; Mr Smith proposed in the car because it was ‘just where we happened to be at the time’.
The pair married in Mrs Smith’s home town of Horsham in August 1959, honeymooning at Medlow Bath in the Blue Mountains and Sydney.
While St Arnaud was initially home for the couple, they moved several times as teaching opportunities arose and their family expanded.
“In those days if you were a woman teaching and you got married, you had to resign,” Mrs Smith said.
“So I resigned from St Arnaud and there was a job for me at Warrnambool Technical College.”
The couple welcomed the births of their first two children, Andrew and Michelle, in Warrnambool, before spending two years in Stawell.
A further five years teaching in Edenhope saw the births of two more children, Rowan and Rachel, before the family finally settled for good in Horsham.
While their children and grandchildren are now spread across Australia, the family bonds remain as tight as ever.
Only two of the couple’s eight grandchildren were unable to attend their anniversary dinner.
“We have a wonderful family that we’re very proud of – both our children and our grandchildren,” Mrs Smith said.
“That’s the most important part of our life.
“We had some special friends also attend, and my three bridesmaids are still with us and were all able to come.
“Even though the family is now spread across the country, we’re still close.”
Besides a strong family unit, Mr and Mrs Smith credit an ability to see each other’s point of view, common interests and an active lifestyle as factors that have helped their marriage blossom.
“We were fortunate that Keith retired early, so we’ve had a lot of time together post-working years, and they’ve been good,” Mrs Smith said.
“We like seeing new places and having new experiences, and we’ve always had things we can do together.
“I think we’re very lucky because not everyone is so fortunate, so that’s something to be thankful for.”
Mr Smith said ‘tolerance’ and ‘give and take’ were the keys to making marriage work.
“We’ve been together a long time, so I suppose you’d describe us as soulmates,” Mrs Smith said.
“You just do the best you can and hope it works, because everybody is a beginner when they start a family.
“You learn by experience and what suits one family doesn’t suit another necessarily; you’ve got to work it out yourself.”
The entire September 18, 2019 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!
