Newspaper Article 2013 – Seventy years and still going strong

Seventy years and still going strong

Tolerance and co-operation were the two words that came to Charlie Anderton’s mind as he and wife Isa celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last week.

Charlie was 23 and Isa 21 when they were married at St Mary’s Church in Waipukurau on June 12, 1943.

He worked on the same station as Isa’s father when the flames of romance first ignited, further fuelled by attending dances together.

They were both part of the World War 2 efforts, Charlie in the army and Isa in the air force and decided to get married before Charlie went overseas to fight in Egypt.

Their wedding was followed by a reception at the Tavistock Hotel and they then headed to Christchurch, where Isa had relatives, for their honeymoon.

Their main memory of that time was the cold, frosty and foggy weather.

“We both got bronchitis so spent quite a bit of time in the hotel wrapped up in bed,” says Isa.

After that slightly sickly start, they went on to have three children, two of whom now live overseas.

Disagreements are a fact of life in any relationship, says Charlie, but he and Isa have not had many.

“In the early days when I was milking cows morning and night, I did not have the time and was too tired to argue!”

As time has gone on, they have become increasingly tolerant and understanding of each other, they say.

This has no doubt been helped by their support of each other in their individual pursuits. Charlie was an avid dog triallist, and Isa would accompany him to the main championships each year, while he would caddy for her during her 50 years of playing golf.

Although they had no intention of doing so themselves, the fact it was difficult to get a divorce helped keep people together in the early days, says Isa.

“You did not get divorced at the drop of a hat – if I had left with the three kids, I would not have had help from anywhere.

“I think it’s too easy to divorce these days.”

“And it’s a bit late for us to be splitting up now,” Charlie adds wryly.

The pair celebrated their special day with a quiet dinner with close friends and family.

Photo captions –
SHARED MEMORIES: Charlie and Isa Anderton reminisce over a scrapbook on the eve of their 70th wedding anniversary.
NUPTIALS: Charlie and Isa Anderton on their wedding day.