Collette and Peter met as teenagers on a blind date.
First impressions were “pretty good”, Peter recalls, although he was three years older than his belle.
“I think her dad was a bit worried about me taking out his 15-year-old daughter.”
He took Collette to The Truth’s annual ball, and remembers having a great time.
Collette recalls Peter’s “nice voice” … “he sounded like a very sincere person,” she says.
The couple waited four years before they married at Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Sunshine, after which they headed for the reception at well-known house of Mrs Larson on Ballarat Road.
The Sunshine couple went on to have seven children – six boys and a girl.
Collette says the births of their children are some of their proudest moments, “watching them find partners, starting their own lives”.
In April this year, the Wheelahans will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
To mark the occasion, their children will host a party for them at one of their son’s houses, in Ardeer.
Considering it’s the couple’s golden anniversary, Collette says she’s hoping for a gold ring.
“My engagement ring is almost worn out now,” she observes.
Alexandra Laskie
