John and Anita celebrate 65th anniversary

A Louth couple will celebrate a remarkable milestone today (Thursday), as they raise a glass to 65 years of married life.
John and Anita celebrate their 65th anniversary this week.John and Anita celebrate their 65th anniversary this week.
John and Anita celebrate their 65th anniversary this week.

John Sales, 87, and his wife Anita, 85, of Swallow Drive, first met when they were introduced on an evening out in Borough Green, Kent, where Anita lived at the time, back in 1953.

At that time, John, originally from Sevenoaks, had recently returned from serving in Malaya with the Royal West Kent Regiment, and he went along to see a few friends - but after he was introduced to Anita, they both agree that it was love at first sight.

John said: “We talked a little bit and had a walk, and we had a chat about classical music, and I thought ‘she’s the girl for me!’

John and Anita instantly began courting, and just two years later the couple married at a church in Platt, Kent, on a snowy day on March 12, 1955.

Six years later they were delighted to welcome their son, Adrian, into the world.

John worked for British Airways (formerly the British Overseas Airways Corporation) at Heathrow until retiring in 1991, while Anita was a pharmacy assistant and then a housewife.

John and Anita moved up to Louth in 1992, having visited the town on a couple of occasions due to Anita’s cousin living there.

The couple moved into their Swallow Drive home, and have lived there happily ever since.

They describe Louth as a ‘beautiful area’ that is ‘much more peaceful’ than Heathrow!

John and Anita were both servers at St Michael’s Church for around 15 years, and joined the Louth Naturalists’, Antiquarian and Literary Society (‘Ants & Nats’). John also enjoys membership of the University of the Third Age.

John says that the couple are ‘very compatible, and Anita told the Leader that their secret to a long and happy marriage was ‘give and take’ 
and never have a big quarrel.

She added: “I have been very blessed to have had such a caring and considerate husband to be with all these years”.

Their son, Adrian, added: “They have been each other’s best friend and beloved rolled into one.”

John and Anita will be celebrating with a meal at the Mansion House, and they hope to visit Petwood Hotel in Woodhall Spa later this year.

Related topics: