Johan and Lily celebrating 60 years of love and respect

The collision of two worlds can either cause friction or result in the galvanisation of a beautiful and unbreakable bond.

A quiet farm boy from the Karoo, working in Sasolburg but visiting Roodepoort, received an invitation from a friend to an evening at a Van Wyk Street bioscope. There, Johan Eybers would meet Lily Badenhorst, a young lady born and raised in the growing streets of Roodepoort. The blind date would evolve into a blissful union that the couple celebrate every year on 8 April.

Johan and Lily were wed in 1961 in the NG Kerk on 7th Avenue, which like the love between the couple celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, still stands tall today. Just like the foundations of the church, the principles that make up their remarkable marriage are unshakable. “It is just about love, respect and always being there for each other,” said Lily.

After finishing school in Beaufort West, the now 82-year-old Johan moved to the economic hubs around the Transvaal, where he would work in the banking sector once settling in Roodepoort with Lily. One year his senior, Lily would be spoiled for choice of schools in Roodepoort’s early development. “There was one English school and one Afrikaans school,” she says of Laerskool Roodepoort, which is now Jozua Naude Primary.

In their 60 years together they have built a tight-knit family that includes three children, eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. “Growing up, we never heard them arguing and there was never any swearing, there was always love and respect.” recalls their daughter, Anri Wheeler. “I can say I am blessed to have such amazing grandparents. There was always so much love in the house and I can’t express how much I love them,” said Anri’s daughter, Lania, as the three generations of women recount the years gone by.

From that first encounter at the movies to sitting quietly in the autumn morning sun, days before their 60th anniversary, the memories are as joyous as they are plentiful. Sincere and unassuming Johan and Lily share their simple secret, saying, “Love each other and trust each other. It is all about love, trust and patience.”