Seventy years strong after a lucky lift home
A lift home after a country dance in 1955 set Arvida Oakwoods community residents Greta and Murray Thomas on a path to 70 years of marriage.
Back then, Greta and three friends had travelled from Dargaville to Appley to pick fruit. Their weekends often centred around dances at Stoke Hall, where they would dress up and make the most of the social scene — but getting home required a bit of planning.
“But we had to find our own way home to Maling Rd,” Greta recalls. “If anyone at the dance asked if they could take one of us home, we said there was four of us! We never walked home. They’d take us home and we’d give them a cup of tea and send them on their way.”
One evening, it was Murray and a friend who offered the lift and it was a moment that would shape the years ahead. At the end of the fruit-picking season, Greta returned to Dargaville and the pair kept in touch, writing letters before planning their future together. With wedding bells soon in the air, they set the date for 30 June. At the time, being under 21 required parental permission, and Murray had to write to Greta’s father.
Following their wedding, the couple returned to Appley to live on Murray’s grandparents’ small family farm. It remained their home for many years as they built their life together and raised their family. “I rebuilt just about everything in the house,” says Murray, who later worked for the local power board after moving to Richmond. Over time, their family grew to include three sons and their years together were marked by travel, particularly around their shared love of music.
“We went to all the operas in Christchurch and Wellington,” Greta says. “I liked Pavarotti, so we went to Melbourne.” Looking back on 70 years of marriage, Greta says the secret to their long partnership is a simple one. “We just never argued. What was there to argue about? It’s all give and take.”
Now aged 90 and 92, the couple have 12 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. They had initially planned a quiet anniversary in their villa at Arvida Oakwoods community, but their son Gary has organised a special high tea celebration in Nelson - a fitting way to mark a lifetime that began with a lift home from the country dance.