Tom and June Gratham celebrate 70 years of marriage

A dare at a barn dance was all it took for one northern NSW man to be swept off his feet with the woman he still calls the “love of my life”. The couple have shared their secret to a lifetime of love together.

"Still the love of my life": Tom and June Gratham celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary at St Catherine's in Grafton.

A North Coast couple that locked eyes at a rural dance in the early 1950s have recently celebrated 70 years of wedded bliss.

Tom and June Gratham of South Grafton, now both in their 90s, have stayed the test of time after marrying at St Patrick’s Catholic Church in South Grafton on March 5, 1955.

A 20-year-old Tom first laid eyes on his future wife at the T.J. Ford Pavilion at the Grafton showground.

Taken by her lively spirit and warm smile a mate told Tom he bet he couldn’t get a date with her.

“I went to a dance at the Grafton Barn with a mate one Saturday night and there were these two girls dancing together and I said to my mate, let’s go pick them girls up,” Tom said.

Grafton couple Tom, 95, and June Gratham, 92, have recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. Picture: supplied

“I picked my wife and the next Saturday night I came back – and this is no crap, no bullsh-t, straight line – as I walked in I saw her, I said that’s the girl I want to marry.

“That’s how it was. I was 20 years old and she was 17 and we’ve been together ever since – it sounds silly, but it’s true.”

"Still the love of my life": Tom and June Gratham celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary at St Catherine's in Grafton.

The couple honeymooned in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast after taking a train from Grafton.

“It took me a fair while to talk her into me,” he laughs.

“Poor as crows” in the early days, Tom said it took four years to save for a deposit on what became their family home.

There, they welcomed daughter Leslie and late son Gary into their world.

Grafton couple Tom, 95, and June Gratham, 92, have recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary. Picture: supplied

“I got basic wages in those days and gradually in my work I saved enough to keep going and we’re quite well off at the moment now.

“It’s silly in a way because you end up with plenty of money when you’re just about ready to cark it.”

He recalls tough early working conditions without unions which he later joined for better wages in a career spanning more than four decades.

“Dad was put in gangs that were near Clouds Creek putting the powerlines up,” daughter Leslie said.

“They used to camp, go there on Monday and stay til Friday afternoon when he’d ride his bike home.

Long marriages run in the family; Tom and June Gratham, left with their daughter Leslie also celebrating 42 years of marriage to her husband Kevin.

At his wife’s urging, Tom declined a well-paying job offer in Brisbane to remain with family in his hometown.

June worked as a seamstress, providing alteration services for years.

Tom said besides losing their son at 21, the couple have had a good life.

June moved into aged care last year and Tom visits her regularly from their family home.

Despite recent challenges the couple have a happy life with two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Reflecting on love and life, Tom advises families and loved ones to “stick together”.

Tom said the secret to a long and happy marriage is to “always let the lady think she is in charge”.

“We’ve stayed together and weathered many storms,” he said.

“It hasn’t always been easy but it’s sure been worth it, we still love each other after all this time,” Tom said.

“We’re still together. She’s still the love of my life.”

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Originally published as Tom and June Gratham celebrate 70 years of marriage