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AUCKLAND, New Zealand /
Western Leader / August 20, 2009
By Justin Latif, Western Leader
He’s a 93-year-old blackbelt and she’s an 89-year-old gardening enthusiast. Together they’ve chalked up 70 years of marriage.
Jim and Anges-Marie "Bubs" Wray tied the knot on August 5, 1939, and are still going strong almost three-quarters of a century later.
STILL GOING: Jim and Bubs’ love for each other is still strong after 70 years.
"We’ve kept ourselves busy," Bub says.
"Marriage is all about give and take and common sense."
Both say healthy living is the key to long life and Jim is a prime example.
He took up Korean martial arts at 69 and got his blackbelt at 80.
Jim had to quit the sport a few years back but reckons his kick still packs a punch.
"I put my fitness down to running everywhere as a youngster," he says.
"My doctors say everything about my health is textbook – so I’m really lucky in that way.
"Not many old people can still do high kicks."
NO SLOUCH: Jim Wray in action at 79.
The couple moved to Auckland 15 months ago to live with their son Arthur at Te Atatu Peninsula.
They have two other boys, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Bubs first spotted Jim at a dancehall in a small town in Horowhenua.
"He was the new face in Otaki," she says.
"I grew up there and he had come up from Wellington to work on a farm.
"We continued to do a lot of ballroom dancing and all our boys got involved as well."
Jim trained as a mechanic during World War Two and stayed with the job until his retirement.
He and Bubs were both keen on motorbikes.
"I had this twin two-stroke 600cc," Jim says. "It really sounded like something else – it used to howl.
"And I’d sit her in front of me."
Today they take life at a slightly slower pace.
"Jim has some zebra finches and canaries and I still do a lot of gardening," she says.
"So maybe eating all those fresh veggies helps too." [
rc]
© 2009 Fairfax New Zealand Limited
STILL GOING: Jim and Bubs’ love for each other is still strong after 70 years.
"We’ve kept ourselves busy," Bub says.
"Marriage is all about give and take and common sense."
Both say healthy living is the key to long life and Jim is a prime example.
He took up Korean martial arts at 69 and got his blackbelt at 80.
Jim had to quit the sport a few years back but reckons his kick still packs a punch.
"I put my fitness down to running everywhere as a youngster," he says.
"My doctors say everything about my health is textbook – so I’m really lucky in that way.
"Not many old people can still do high kicks."
NO SLOUCH: Jim Wray in action at 79.
The couple moved to Auckland 15 months ago to live with their son Arthur at Te Atatu Peninsula.
They have two other boys, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Bubs first spotted Jim at a dancehall in a small town in Horowhenua.
"He was the new face in Otaki," she says.
"I grew up there and he had come up from Wellington to work on a farm.
"We continued to do a lot of ballroom dancing and all our boys got involved as well."
Jim trained as a mechanic during World War Two and stayed with the job until his retirement.
He and Bubs were both keen on motorbikes.
"I had this twin two-stroke 600cc," Jim says. "It really sounded like something else – it used to howl.
"And I’d sit her in front of me."
Today they take life at a slightly slower pace.
"Jim has some zebra finches and canaries and I still do a lot of gardening," she says.
"So maybe eating all those fresh veggies helps too." [rc]
© 2009 Fairfax New Zealand Limited
