Margaret and Max Richards first met at work, more than 60 years ago.
At the time Max was working as an engineer, in Melbourne, and he would receive survey plans from a local surveyor.
The person who would bring those plans over was Margaret.
After working together for some time Max worked up the courage to ask her out on a date.
“I actually said no,” Margaret said.
“But I had a think about it and the next week I decided to ask him out.”
Luckily for Margaret, Max said yes.
“I’m not certain when we got engaged, but I suspect he asked me at the drive-through,” she said.
“I said yes that time.”
After their wedding at a church in Malvern on November 24, 1962, the couple began their married life in Melbourne.
“When we were first married Max was still finishing his degree in engineering,” Margaret said.
“When he qualified he said ‘we’ll go to the country for a couple of years then go back to Melbourne’.
“That was in 1969. We first moved to Rushworth and lived there for 18 years.”
Their three children Stuart, Simon and Cara would all do their schooling there.
“Cara finished her schooling in Benalla after we moved here in 1987,” Margaret said.
“And we’ve lived in Benalla ever since.”
To celebrate the occasion the couple went to a winery and restaurant in Yarra Glen.
“It was just a small gathering,” Margaret said.
“It was me, Max, my brother, sister and sister-in-law. It was a lovely venue and we all had a nice day.”
When it comes to the secret to a happy marriage Margaret said it was all about supporting each other.
“I’ve always supported Max in his career and his various studies over the years,” she said.
“He didn’t stop after his first qualification, he did several more.
“And he’s always supported me in various things.
“I was a councillor from 2012 to 2016 so he looked after things on the home front while I was a councillor, and I’ve always been involved with community service one way or another.”
Congratulations from everyone at The Ensign.