An unusual first date leads to love
The couple was married in Greylingstad on June 6, 1953, and honeymooned in Port Edward.
Carel and Babs Wallis of Goedeburg celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on June 6.
The couple was married in Greylingstad on June 6, 1953, and honeymooned in Port Edward.
They met while Carel was a police officer stationed in Nigel and Babs was a nurse at Dunnotter Hospital.
He was asked to interview one of Babs’ patients as part of a case he was working on, but she refused to let Carel speak to the patient and the two had a bit of an argument, which certainly left an impression of Babs with Carel.
A while later, when the nurses’ home was hosting a dance, someone asked Carel if he wanted to accompany one of the nurses to the occasion to which he immediately responded: “Only if it is the ‘difficult’ nurse.”
As fate would have it, Babs was on duty on the night of the dance and one of her patients died, so she first had to lay out the body and take it to the mortuary on a gurney.
Carel offered to help her and en route to the mortuary, the body nearly slipped off the trolley, making it a memorable first date for the two of them!
The couple has three daughters: Carol Goede (eldest), Marinda Rademeyer and Esther Wallis. They also have four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, with the fifth (and first boy) due to be born in August.
Also read: Benoni newcomers celebrate 60th wedding anniversary
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