Central QLD couple find love in their 80s and get married
After first meeting about six years ago, a Central Queensland couple in their late 80s has proved it’s never too late to find love, tying the knot in a “perfect” wedding ceremony.
Rockhampton
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Central Queensland couple John Martin and Gillian Vanderheiden are certain proof that it is never too late to find love.
Both in their late 80s, John and Gillian live in their own separate homes within Capricorn Adventist Retirement Village at Yeppoon where they first met about six years ago.
They go to each other’s place every day for what they call “smoko” and each night they have dinner together and watch a movie.
The routine changes on Saturdays - that’s date night and the couple always purchase chips from Cooee Bay Takeaway and park somewhere with a nice view of the ocean, like at Wreck Point, to watch the sunset.
Last Christmas, John asked Gillian’s daughter, Mandy Dollery, for permission to marry her mum.
“And they kindly waited until I moved from Geelong to Yeppoon before they married,” Mandy said.
Mandy moved to Yeppoon last month and last Sunday, John and Gillian tied the knot at the coastal town’s Seventh Day Adventist Church.
About 100 guests attended the wedding.
As Mandy explained, John and Gillian are the “cutest couple”.
“John always tells everyone how much happiness mum has given him, and mum always tells me how she can’t believe how lucky she is to have found the most wonderful man in the world,” Mandy said.
“They are the cutest and happiest couple you ever did see.”
Prior to the wedding, Mandy said whenever she mentioned it to others, she usually received wonderful and funny responses like “so there’s hope for me yet”, “I should move to a retirement village” and “this has made my day”.
John and Gillian both share a love of singing and helping the community.
Gillian is an artist and holds art classes in her home at Capricorn Adventist Retirement Village for her friends and village residents.
In his working days, John was the first manager of the retirement village when it opened on November 20, 1994.
And in 2020, he was officially honoured as a “Living Legend” by Livingstone Shire Council during its Australia Day celebrations, an award given as recognition for outstanding community service.
After spending their first two nights of married life at Salt Beachfront Apartments Yeppoon, John and Gillian on Tuesday headed off down the Queensland coast for their “honeymoon holiday”.
Speaking from Seventeen Seventy and Agnes Water on Thursday, John described what the big day last Sunday meant to him.
“It was just unbelievable, it really was,” he said.
“The church was packed out - everybody seemed to want to see us get married I think.
“I just felt over the top - this young lady of mine, she looked like a princess, it was just something, it really was.”
Gillian said for her, the wedding day was “perfect”.
“Everybody was so marvellous, everybody came - everything was so perfect,” she said.
“And I had to say a few words, and looking out at the sea of people - they were all smiling at me and oh, I’ll never forget it.”
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