RAUL Quintas had to travel all the way from Portugal to meet the woman he would marry.
Leaving Portugal when he was 16, and living in Mozambique for many years, he arrived in South Africa in 1963. “He thought there must be something better on the other side of the world, he came here and found me!” said wife, Blanche.
Blanche said the couple met one night at a dance, and little did they know, that they would be celebrating their 50th anniversary on 7 August 2015!
“I went to a movie with two friends and we didn't feel like going home afterwards, so we went to the New Rand Hotel where there was a live band playing. Raul was there with a friend, and he asked me to dance. We had two or three dances, and I sat down, but he kept asking. He offered me a lift home, and I said yes, as long as he dropped my friends off too! I was the last stop, and he asked me to go to the beach with him the next day,” she said.
Blanche said she saw him that week, and one day he went to her house and saw a green Mini parked outside.
“He thought it was my boyfriend's car, but once I'd told him the car belonged to my brother, our relationship blossomed!,” she said.
The couple were married a year later and over the years had four children, two sons and two daughters. They now have 10 grandchildren ranging from three to 24 years old.
Blanche worked at the telegraph office at the Post Office before she was married, and stopped working after the couple got married.
Raul worked in the engineering industry, and after working for various companies, branched out on his own. He owned five fishing trawlers, which he eventually sold, and is now in the business of buying industrial property.
Raul was a league tennis player and played tennis for Glenwood Old Boys in his youth, and is now a keen golfer. He said watching rugby and cricket was his life.
He was very involved with the Portuguese Club and was president for three years, and was involved with Portuguese Welfare for many years.
Blanche said she was never sporty, but loves doing puzzles and sudoku and looking after her grandchildren. The couple both love dancing.
Raul said there was no real 'secret' to their long and successful marriage, but that trust between each other was a number one priority, and that they understood each other.
“Blanche has been a fantastic wife! She is a terrific mother and grandmother and loves our children and grandchildren,” he said.
“I have to say the same. He is a fantastic husband! He is a good husband, father, grandfather and employer,” said Blanche.
