A Burnside couple has notched up nearly 60 years of wedded bliss.
John and Shirley McArdle will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary on February 12 at a family dinner.
The pair met while working at the ICI Nobel explosives factory in Ardeer.
Both were engaged to other people at the time but found each other after both engagements fell through.
“I used to really tease the hell out of her … I’d pinch her beret and run off with it and she would scream at me to give it back,” Mr McArdle said.
The couple married after a two-year courtship at Our Lady’s Church, Sunshine, before going to Portarlington for their honeymoon.
They then settled into married life at Deer Park, where they lived for 55 years.
Mr McArdle said money was tight in the early years while they paid off their mortgage and raised two daughters, Christine and Sharlene.
Later on, the couple kept a caravan in St Leonards and enjoyed travelling.
Tragedy struck when daughter Christine died, aged 30, from melanoma, leaving behind a husband and child.
“That broke both of our hearts,” Mr McArdle said.
The couple moved to Burnside five years ago to be closer to daughter Sharlene and her three children.
They also have three great-grandchildren.
Mr McArdle said the couple always kiss each other goodnight, even if they’ve been fighting.
And Mrs McArdle said they always looked after one another. “He’s been marvellous to me,” she said.
