Glen Marais couple still in love after 51 years

When young Beulah Wolmarans and Theo van Wijk entered the Port Elizabeth airport separately one day in October 1967, they never imagined they would meet the love of their lives.

“A shy-looking pilot approached me to ask for Sellotape. I told him to ask the lady at enquiries and he walked away,” Beulah (72) told Express about her first encounter with Theo (83).

On December 2, the Glen Marais parents of four and grandparents to eight (with one more on the way), celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary.

“Two days after we first met, Theo stood in front of me again. The flight he was supposed to catch had already left.” This time Theo didn’t walk away and the two chatted all afternoon.

“I slept very little that night and I later learnt he didn’t either. Both of us had fallen hopelessly in love.”

The rest, as they say, is history. The two married in Kareedouw in the Eastern Cape in 1967, after which they moved to an apartment building in Hillbrow.

“It was not easy to live with a stranger at first,” Beulah shared. “We are both stubborn people and in spite of many fights, we learned to love each other.”

Beulah, who later became an estate agent and owner of Magic Homes, was (and still is) her own boss. This enabled her to join Theo on his many international flights. The adventurous couple once even sailed a boat from Durban to Mauritius. The boat was called Magic, after which Beulah would later name her business.

The two moved to Glen Marais in 1972, where they’ve lived ever since. Their four children attended Laerskool Kruinsig and later Hoërskool Kempton Park. All four completed their tertiary studies successfully, with their youngest son, Marnus, following in his father’s footsteps as a pilot.

“After 51 years of marriage I am still so blessed,” Beulah concluded.

“Every morning I wake up next to the man of my dreams.”