11:08am Wednesday 17th March 2010
A BRIEF encounter on a train led to 65 years of marriage for William and Emily Jacks.
The couple celebrated their blue sapphire anniversary on St Patrick’s Day, a fitting day for Irishman William.
And they were looking forward to receiving their first congratulatory telegram from HM The Queen.
William, 91, and Emily, 88, were both in uniform when they met while on leave from the Army. Emily who served on the anti-aircraft guns in London during the blitz was travelling from her base in London to see friends and William, who served in the 8th Army (Desert Rats) and had recently returned from Egypt, was going home.
They kept in touch and married in 1945 at Tyldesley Parish Church.
They moved to William’s home town of Londonderry but returned to their present home in Hamilton Street, Atherton, in 1954 because of the troubles brewing in Northern Ireland.
William worked in the pits and then on the buses, retiring from the LUT, while Emily concentrated on bringing up their three children Raymond, Neville and Dehra (correct).
The couple, who have six grandchildren and four great grandchildren, have strong ties with Tyldesley Parish Church where William was a reader for 35 years and Emily was a Brown Owl and Mothers’ Union secretary.
She said: “We are fit and very lucky. We have been very happy - and having a good sense of humour and never losing it is the main recipe for a successful marriage.”
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