Max and June Wheaton are a love at first sight couple.
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When they met, they knew that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.
It is that love, plus chemistry and respect for one another, that has lead to a long and successful marriage.
On February 14 – Valentine’s Day – the Salamander Bay couple will celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary.
“In those days Valentine’s Day was just a chance wedding date because nobody really celebrated it,” Mrs Wheaton said. “We just happened to pick that date. Now we get a special wedding anniversary each year.”
The Wheatons seemed destined to find each other. The pair were born in the month of June but three years apart.
They grew up around the corner from each other in Port Adelaide. June knew Max’s brother – he would often save her a seat on the train on their way into work. Max knew June’s sister. But the pair had never met.
It was a train ride from Ethelton to Adelaide one day that finally brought them together.
“Max jumped into the carriage behind me, slammed the door shut and sat opposite me,” Mrs Wheaton said. “It was just at first sight. Isn't it strange? You just know.”
After a year of dating, on February 14, 1948, they married at Glanville Methodist Church in Adelaide.
Six months after marrying Mr Wheaton, who had been a pilot during the war, re-joined the Air Force and became an air traffic controller.
Their first posting was Townsville. For the first few months the Wheatons lived on Magnetic Island. In 1951, while at the beach, a photographer from the Australian Women’s Weekly magazine took a photo of the Wheatons with their eldest daughter, Rae. It was used in the magazine.
During his 30 year career as an air traffic controller the Wheatons moved around to RAAF bases across Australia – Townsville, Adelaide, Perth, Williamtown – and even did a three year stint in Malaysia.
They welcomed five children – Rae, Maxine, Susan, Philip and Annette – during their travels. They now have 14 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Williamtown RAAF Base was Mr Wheaton’s final posting before he retired. He was posted to the base in 1967 and retired in 1976.
It was while living in Raymond Terrace that the Wheatons found and fell in love with Nelson Bay.
For six years after Mr Wheaton retired, the pair travelled around Australia in a caravan.
Of all the places they had travelled to, it was the Bay that they decided to settle down and retire to in 1983.
“There’s everything you can go to within cooee of this place,” Mr Wheaton said. “We sit down on a bench at the park and look out over the bay and think how lucky we are to live here.”
When the Wheatons retired to the Bay, it was a “sleepy hollow”. Holiday homes were vacant most of the year, until the summer season. Now, the Bay is hub of activity nearly all year round.
Mr Wheaton joked that it was a photo snapped of him fishing in Soldiers Point during the mid-1980s that began driving more people to the Bay.
“I was down fishing at Soldiers Point on the breakwater in a duddy pair of overalls with the crotch coming down to my knees and a sloppy hat on. It was about 5pm in the afternoon with the sun going down in the west and a gorgeous blonde came up to me and said ‘excuse me sir can I take your photo?’,” he said.
“I asked why. She said ‘we’re doing a show on the whole area’. I said okay and they took my photo, fishing against the sunset.
“I was on this show they showed all around the world and Australia. And the people in Sydney who used to go past here said ‘oh, why did we go past that for?’ They moved here in packs after that.”
Mrs Wheaton laughed when her husband told the Examiner that story, saying “it’s his claim to fame”.
When asked how they reached 70 years together, Mr Wheaton simply replied “easily”.
“We just love each other. We get on.”
Mrs Wheaton added that though there had been ups and downs, as with any marriage, they worked through the tough times because “we understand one another”.
“It would be a tough job if we didn’t by now,” she said. “Everyone in their marriage has ups and downs. You just get through it.”
The Wheatons plan on celebrating their wedding anniversary by going out to lunch on the day.
Ellie-Marie Watts
A journalist with 10 years experience, Ellie-Marie connects readers to the stories that matter in their communities. A Port Stephens-based news, sport and event writer and photographer with a passion for human interest features.
A journalist with 10 years experience, Ellie-Marie connects readers to the stories that matter in their communities. A Port Stephens-based news, sport and event writer and photographer with a passion for human interest features.
