Emma Pritchard Not long after meeting June Hewitt during a Saturday night dance at the T.J. Ford Pavilion (The Barn) at Grafton Showground during the early 1950s, Thomas Grantham told his mates she was the girl he was going to marry. Fast forward to 2025 and the couple recently celebrated their 70th Wedding Anniversary on March 5. Enchanted by her ease and friendliness, zest for life, her lovely smile and sparking eyes, Mr Grantham said he and his wife quickly formed an inseparable bond. “We met when I was 20 and she was 17,” he recalled. “I went to a dance one night with one of my mates, and we saw two girls dancing together, so we said we’d better go and pick one each. “I picked June.” In 1955 the couple married at St Patrick’s Catholic Church in South Grafton and spent several weeks honeymooning in Brisbane and the Gold Coast before returning to the Clarence Valley. “We were both as poor as crows, but we put a deposit on a house (in Grafton) when we got married, and that became our family home,” Mr Grantham said. The couple welcomed two children, daughter Lesley and son Gary (deceased), and Mrs Grantham dedicated her time to raising their children while her husband worked locally as an electrical linesman, a career which spanned more than four decades. While Mrs Grantham moved into St Catherine’s Villa Residential Aged Care last year, Mr Granthan still lives independently in the family home and visits his wife regularly. They have two grandchildren, and two great grandchildren. When asked what the secret to a long and happy marriage is, Mr Grantham said it is all about “give and take”. “But most if the time, give rather than take,” he said. “And let her be the boss.”