Geraldton couple’s bond still strong after 65 years of marriage

After 65 years of holding hands, making friends, raising children, arguing about nothing, drinking brandy and being by each other’s side, one Geraldton husband and wife have some advice for young couples who want their love to last forever. “Stay alive long enough,” says Barbara Allen. Now in her 90s, Mrs Allen isn’t sure if she met her husband Ken at the Geraldton Yacht Club — where everybody used to go and dance every Saturday in those days — or at a Rovers Football Club wind-up. But she does remember how hot it was on their January 27 wedding day, at the Church of England in South Perth. On their 65th wedding anniversary at their Geraldton home on Wednesday, she recalled the minister asking her husband-to-be if he would like to pause the ceremony so he could wipe his brow. “No, let’s just get on with it,” he replied. With their union spanning decades, the pair have had fingers in every pie in town. The footy club, golf club, theatre and Rotary are just a few of the Geraldton clubs and organisations the couple have helped shape. As a young couple, many parts of their marriage were traditional — but not when it came to Mrs Allen’s career. During the course of her working life, she trained as a nurse, worked in the local school, and started a blood bank, making her mark on Geraldton’s health care industry. Meanwhile, Mr Allen was a dedicated farmer who worked tirelessly on his Moonyoonooka property. Although his son is now in charge, he still travels out there every day to visit the land, feed the cat, and take the dog for a run around the paddock. The pair agreed their rich separate lives were part of the glue holding them together. “We do enjoy a drink together at the end of every day,” Mr Allen said.