uMhlanga couple celebrates five golden decades
The couple courted for a few months before Bert decided that he would move to South Africa to start a life with Jill.
BERT and Jill Ewing of uMhlanga celebrated their golden anniversary on October 20. Reaching this milestone has had many happy moments.
They met in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1972 and came to Durban in January 1973, where Bert had secured a transfer with his company.
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“After courting for a few months, Bert decided that he would immigrate to South Africa with me as my contract had come to an end. So I came back home and Bert came with,” said Jill.
Jill was from Port Alfred so they returned to her home town and got married at the Methodist Church on October 20, 1973. Bert was president of the Insurance Institute of Natal in 1978. He was chairman of Berea 189 Round Table.
The couple have three daughters – Sheena who is married to Graham, and their children are Hayden and Emma. They live in Christchurch. Heather is married to Berino, and their children are Michael and Genevieve, and they live in Brisbane. Elizabeth is married to Marc and with their son, Josh, lives in Johannesburg.
“After Heather was born, I studied towards a teaching degree through Unisa. Bert remained in the insurance field, and I taught for a few years but then decided to take early retirement,” said Jill.
In 2008, they were blessed with their first grandson, Michael. They have four more grandchildren – Genevieve, Emma, Hayden and Josh. The boys’ middle name is Ewing.
“It’s so special of the girls and their husbands to have given their sons our family name,” said Bert.
As a couple, their favourite thing to do together is travel, and they have done so quite extensively to numerous countries.
“Now we enjoy relaxing together and entertaining. Bert loves watching sports and is the president of the Northlands Bowling Club,” said Jill.
When asked how they managed to stay married for five decades, their answer was: “Don’t give up too easily. You get couples who give up and then others like us, who just keep going.”
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