“Give and take, and whatever we do we support each other, I think that’s our secret.” Reuben and Leona Ellis have holidayed on land and sea, played tennis, served with community groups and raised their two adult children in their 60 years as a married couple.
Leona, now 82, fell for the “kind and courteous” Reuben when they met at a dance in Hokitika in 1964, oblivious that they lived opposite each other.
While Reuben, now 86, jokes that his Fair Isle jersey and corduroy trousers made his future wife besotted, Leona chimes in that his chivalry fast-tracked them to wed in Christchurch 18 months after meeting.
“When people walked along the footpath in those days the man always took the outside of the footpath, so he always used to go that side in case something hit me, and the car door always used to come open to get me in the car,” she says.
“We got married in the Sign of the Takahe in Christchurch on a very hot day, about 30 degrees, and there were 101 guests.”
The couple settled in the Garden City and built a house before relocating to Richmond in 1972 when Reuben was appointed to a mental health role at Nelson Hospital.
Leona was a secretary for numerous government departments, and the couple also operated a beekeeping business with around 250 hives in the Nelson region before retiring in 1997.
They have lived in Stoke for the past 25 years.
Both were active in their daughter Susanne and son Grant’s schooling, along with scouting groups and sports clubs, including their beloved Hope Tennis Club where the pair have played for 40 years and are life members.
They celebrated their six-decade union with around 30 club members on 23 January.
“Life has been very kind and we’ve always done it together,” Leona says. “We had a caravan up until we sold it a couple of years ago, we did a lot of camping and touring, and we did a lot of boating with a launch in the Marlborough Sounds.
“Give and take, and whatever we do we support each other, I think that’s our secret and the secret to anyone’s marriage.”
Leona and Reuben also have three grandsons.
