ROSETTA and Tony Stevens knew each other for at least three years before they got married.
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Tony lived on a farm until he was 18 and then bought a truck. For the next 50 years was an interstate truck driver (owner driver).
“Back then you knew everyone walking down the street of Inglewood, so we got to know each other that way,” Tony explains.
Rosetta worked at the Bridgewater Hotel and Tony used to go and see her there.
It was a small family wedding at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Inglewood on June 25, 1955.
On their wedding day they drove to Bendigo in a semi-trailer and stayed at the City Family Hotel.
Then they travelled to Melbourne for their honeymoon.
“Tony had to get back to his work so it was a brief honeymoon.” Rosetta says.
They had one daughter and five sons, but tragically their fourth son Brian passed away after an accident in 1968, two weeks before his fifth birthday. They have seven grandchildren and six great-grandchildren (nearly seven!). Their children live close by, mainly in Dunolly and Charlton.
“Tony was away a bit truck driving, so I was often at home raising the kids. It’s a fair bit of work when they’re young,” Rosetta explains.
“Sometimes he’d take a few weeks off and we’d all go travelling, which was great. The kids loved it. We’ve seen most of Australia this way, been to Perth five times. We were very lucky.”
“Once when we were walking in the Kimberley – the Bungle Bungles – I got lost! Tony had to hire a rescue helicopter to find me.
“It was over 40 degrees. I was terrified. I was lost for about four to five hours but it felt much longer than that. Tony had to travel 26km to get a helicopter. He says I still owe him money for that!”
“Yeah, the helicopter cost $350 per hour. Luckily we found her in half an hour so it only cost me $175.” Tony says.
Tony is also a survivor. Two years ago he had a quadruple bypass. He had a heart attack while travelling up in Broken Hill but didn’t tell anyone about it for a week.
When he finally mentioned it he was taken to Melbourne for surgery in a hurry and his health was restored.
As president of the Inglewood Senior Citizens Club, Rosetta and a team of volunteers cook meals for the senior citizens and keep things going.
Their secret to a long and happy partnership is to work at it, do things together and if you argue, make up afterwards.