Dennington couple celebrates 65 years of marriage

Wally and Kath Savage celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on Wednesday and will gather with family and friends on Sunday to mark the occasion.

The pair met while working at Dennington's Nestles factory.

They married a few years later at Warrnambool's Christ Church of England on April 26, 1958, followed by a reception at the church hall.

"I was working in the canteen feeding all the workers and he was working in the factory," Mrs Savage said. "We met up and ended up getting married."

Formerly from Koroit, Kath Kelly was 19 and Mr Savage, who was born in Timboon, was 22 when they tied the knot.

The newly-married couple built a small 10-square house in Dennington in 1961 where they've lived all their married life.

They raised their three children Mark, Ian and Pam, sharing lots of happy times over the past six decades, including welcoming five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Their humble home was without floor coverings for some time, with the couple adding "bits and pieces" and later extending their house as they could afford it.

"We had nothing when we started here," Mr Savage said. "We bought the block - it was about 160 pounds then - we had no money. We got a loan of 3000 pounds and I did not think we'd ever pay it off."

He extended the garage to include a pool table he built providing a place for their children and "all the Dennington kids" to gather.

Mrs Savage said they'd had an open-door policy where everyone was welcome and treated the same.

"Our house has always been open," he said.

"We've had barbecues, Christmas parties, birthday parties, all sorts of things."

Mr Savage is a life member of the Dennington Bowling Club, which he helped build, while Mrs Savage has the honour at Warrnambool's Christ Church Tennis Club, with sport a family passion.

"We've always been sports minded and the kids are too," he said.

Holidaying has been a highlight, visiting numerous overseas countries including more than 20 cruises and family caravan trips where they "saw pretty much all of Australia".

"We've been lucky, we've had good holidays and cruises," he said.

Mrs Savage said she couldn't believe it had been 65 years.

She said their family had brought them lots of joy.

Their secret to a long marriage was having their own interests and doing what they enjoyed, both together and separately.

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