THEIR love has been described as respectful, kind and understanding.
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Perhaps that’s why Frank and Millie Ryan have notched up 64 years of marriage.
The couple, aged 86 and 90 respectively, spent a large part of their lives in Port Fairy and Koroit and now reside in Mercy Place, Warrnambool.
They celebrated their anniversary on Tuesday, 64 years after tieing the knot at St John the Evangelist Catholic Church in East Melbourne. The pair met in 1948 in Healesville — the first stop on Mrs Ryan’s working holiday with three of her girlfriends.
She said two of the four met their future husbands in the town so the trip came to a halt.
“We all got jobs in a big boarding house and Frank worked in the post office,” she said.
The couple went on to raise six children and have 11 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
During the mid-1950s the Ryans moved to Port Fairy where Mr Ryan became a committee member of the Port Fairy Football Club.
In 1969 they moved to Koroit where they were active in the community.
Daughter Carmel Kelly said her dad was the postmaster and the family resided in the Koroit Post Office for about 18 months. Mrs Ryan said their relationship success was thanks to compatibility and friendship.
“(The highlight was) having a family and watching them all grow up...we are very proud of our family.”
kellie.scott@fairfaxmedia.com.au