HORSHAM couple Jack and Pat Anderson celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on Thursday.
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Reaching the milestone was even more special for the couple, as Mr Anderson has battled ill health for the past two years.
“I had a stroke in October 2012 and I got cancer straight after it,” he said.
“On October 14, 2013, I had an operation for the cancer and I said to the doctor, ‘can I have another year to get to my 60th wedding anniversary?’
“And here I am – I got that extra year.”
The couple met in Warburton in the early 1950s.
They were married on May 28, 1954.
Mr Anderson’s work for the Country Roads Board saw the couple live across regional Victoria, moving from Warburton to near Mildura, then Stawell and Ouyen before settling in Horsham.
“I had an operation for the cancer and I said to the doctor, ‘can I have another year to get to my 60th wedding anniversary?’ And here I am – I got that extra year."
- Pat Anderson
Mr Anderson said the secret to their enduring marriage was simple.
“Doing what your old woman tells you,” he said.
The couple have three children and seven grandchildren.
They celebrated on Thursday with a family dinner.
The couple’s daughter Lynda Shea presented her parents with seven letters of congratulations – from the Queen, the Office of the Governor-General, the Prime Minister’s office, the Deputy Prime Minister’s office, Member for Mallee Andrew Broad, Member for Lowan Hugh Delahunty and Treasury Place.
