Diamond couple celebrates 60 years of marriage

Tony George Pratt, 85, married Pat Muriel Taylor, 82, on April 1, 1961, at St Lawrence Church in Scunthorpe, the town where an 18-year-old Pat had been in foster care when she first met Tony, when he was 21 years old.

Pat was being fostered by Tony’s aunt, Alice Goodley, when the couple first met, while Tony was visiting his aunt alongside his mother.

The first words that were uttered to each other over tea was “please can you pass the salt”.

Pat and Tony exchanged Valentine’s Cards thereafter, and the rest is history.

Four years later, the couple were married, and raised two daughters, Deborah and Lorraine.

Tony spent most of his childhood in Mablethorpe, and went to Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Alford.

He worked as an apprentice for Freemans Electricians in the town, and also worked in King’s Lynn for them. He spent three years in the RAF as a storeman and then worked at RAF Manby and Strubby, and later as an electrician at RAF North Cotes before he was made redundant. He then became forecourt manager at Seacroft Garage and after his redundancy, he retired.

Pat, meanwhile, started work at a fruit and vegetable shop in Mablethorpe after marrying Tony and setting up their family home in the town, but had to give up work when she had their two daughters.

After their youngest daughter had started school, Pat became a midday meal supervisor at Mablethorpe Primary School, which her daughters attended. She later became a welfare assistant at the school, and ended her working life as a secretary at Tennyson Secondary School.

After first living together in St Andrew’s Road and then Kingsley Road, the couple moved into Tony’s mother’s house - also in St Andrew’s Road - to look after her until she moved into a care home in 2000. Tony and Pat have lived there together ever since.

The couple have a wide range of interest including caravanning and gardening. Tony was a keen footballer in his youth, and Pat belonged to a snooker club with friends.

Tony is full of praise for Pat, his ‘wonderful wife and companion’ who has ‘looked after’ him well over the years.

The couple are hoping to celebrate their diamond anniversary with family members in their garden.