Long-time Stafford residents Des and Noela Slattery are marking a rare and remarkable milestone this month – their 70th wedding anniversary.
The couple, who were married on 5 November 1955, have lived their entire married life in the same Minimine Street home – a house they built together.
“Noela and I, at 22 years of age, became builders, and we built the house at weekends,” Des, a carpenter by trade, said. “We started in 1955, before we were married, digging foundations.”
They moved into the house in 1957, and while it has seen a few changes over the years, it remains largely untouched.
“We bought the land when it was valued at 250 pounds,” Des said.
“We get city views. When we started building, we could read the City Hall clock with a pair of binoculars. But you can’t, now.
“In our street, where you turn off Webster Road, there’s two houses then a block of shops. When we moved here, that block had a cake shop, butcher, grocery, chemist, hairdresser, and the doctor was on the corner, and we were only another three or four houses up from that block of shops, so we were very fortunate.
“There’s been a lot of change, but mostly for the better.”
Seven Decades of Love and Family
Des and Noela met in 1951, when Des, on weekend leave from his national service in the Air Force, attended a birthday party hosted by his best friend’s girlfriend.
Noela, who had just turned 19, was there.
At the time, Noela was working in the lands department in George Street, where she had been employed in the accounts branch from the age of 15 to 21.
The couple were married four years later at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Corinda.
During their marriage, they ran a milk vending business for a decade, and Des later worked in telecom before finishing his career as a building inspector.
They raised three children: Bryan, a doctor at Warwick Hospital; Catherine, a pre-school teacher; and Peter, a former Rehabilitation Engineer at the Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital.
“We’re very fortunate, our three children are marvellous to us and we’ve got seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren,” Des said.
Their Minimine Street home has long been the heart of family celebrations – especially Christmas.
“It’s always family at Christmas,” Des said.
The Slatterys will mark their 70th wedding anniversary with a double celebration. On the day of their anniversary, they will stay at the Coolangatta Hotel before attending their grandson’s wedding in the Gold Coast Hinterland on Thursday.
“I’ve been very blessed with such a wonderful wife and children,” Des said. “They’ve been very good.”
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