60 years of mutual love
Jan (84) and Joan (81) Viljoen celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on December 31.
The day was extra special, as it was also Joan’s birthday.
The Westdene residents met in 1953, on a bus en route to Johannesburg.
Both Jan and Joan caught the bus to work every morning.
Joan said Jan would always board the bus and look at her without saying a word.
“One night, however, I was waiting for the bus and he came to me and started taking,” she said.
“He asked me out and that’s how our relationship started.”
After two years of a long distance relationship, the couple was married in 1955, in Maryvale Catholic Church.
Soon after getting married they moved to Limpopo, where Jan worked.
In 1981, they moved to Westdene.
Joan was a librarian and Jan worked for Community Monitoring Services (CMS), in Benoni, as a debt collector.
Asked what attracted them to each other, Joan responded by saying: “His suits were very smart; that’s what attracted me.
With slight laughter, Jan said his wife thought he was a big shot director for a large firm.
“What attracted me to Joan was her quietness,” said Jan.
The couple was blessed with a son, Christopher, and three daughters, Mary-Anne Dobrovic, Jilliana and Janine Viljoen.
They also have six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
When asked for their recipe for a long, healthy marriage, Jan said: “Listen and respect each other.
“Don’t react, have a moral code of ethics.”
Joan said couples should stick it out no matter what.
Regardless of Jan’s busy working schedule, the couple still enjoys travelling to a game farm in Messina twice a year.
They celebrated their special day with their family and friends.
Also read: Love knows no colour
