Frasers celebrate 50 years of marriage
Colleen and David Fraser believe sharing common interests is a must in any marriage.
COMPROMISE, love and affection has been the secret to Pinetown residents, David and Colleen Fraser’s 50 years of marriage.
The couple met in 1962 when Colleen was doing her nursing training at the Germiston Hospital. Her best friend got her boyfriend (eventually their best man) to arrange a blind date with his best friend, David because he had a red MG TC sports car.
“A couple of Tango lessons and all is history and we lived happily ever after,” said David.
David worked for New Zealand Insurance Company at the time and was transferred to Salisbury, Rhodesia in 1963 and Colleen followed in January 1964, when she completed her nurses training. They were married at the Presbyterian Church in Boksburg on 8 August that year. Both their children, Garth and Sharon were born in Rhodesia.
They eventually moved back to South Africa in October 1969 and lived in Durban for three and a half years, then moved to Johannesburg until 1991, before settling in Farningham Ridge in Pinetown. Colleen first worked for a dentist in Rhodesia, then a general practitioner, at Eskom in Johannesburg and finally at a medical aid scheme in Durban before taking on a new project as a house wife and looking after her husband, which according to her is a full-time job.
Colleen always wanted a red sports car, so in 1997 she bought a Triumph Spitfire to replace the MG that they sold before going to Rhodesia.
Now, in their retirement, Colleen enjoys sewing and a little gardening and her three loves in her life, her dog Spanny, her car and her husband in that order. David said he enjoys doing as little as possible as often as possible. But he also enjoys working on vintage cars – his wife’s Spitfire and his Stag. The charming couple also love to caravan around the country and enjoy triumph cars.
“Sharing common interests is a must in any marriage,” said David.
David added that he loved the fact that his wife has looked after and stuck with him during all these years. Colleen smiled and said: “We’re very good companions and good friends. He’s always showed me love and affection which is a wonderful feeling.”
Their advice to other couples is to “Uit hou en aan hou”
“Support one another in good times and bad and always be there for each other through thick and thin,” said Colleen.
Since their immediate family-their son, daughter and six grandchildren live in the US, the Fraser’s have planned to spend a quiet 50th wedding anniversary this Friday. They said dinner plans will simply have to do.
