By Tyler Wright
Common interests have held Kath and Harold Ramage in good stead over the years.
Kath, from Mount Eliza, met Harold, who hails from Gembrook, at a badminton evening at her local social club in 1956.
The pair married two years later in a ceremony on 27 September 1958.
“I was always interested in what [Harold] was doing,” Kath said.
“He was a builder locally – that was good – and he also played a lot of football, so we had common interests.”
A stalwart of the Gembrook-Cockatoo Football and Netball Club, Harold has the Harold Ramage Shield named after himself as a tribute to his contribution to the club.
Football even made its way into Kath and Harold’s wedding day.
“My husband allowed a day in between in case [his team] had a draw; so we were married a fortnight after their grand final,” Kath said.
“We were actually married in Frankston, right opposite the Methodist Church and the football ground [on their grand final day].
“During our service, whenever there was a goal you’d hear all the noise…it made a little bit of a noise through our service, but that was alright; you visualised it all. ”
Living for 64 years about one kilometre from the town centre in a house built by Harold for his parents, the pair raised their four children – three sons and one daughter – in Gembrook.
Kath said Gembrook has been “the best place” to live.
“Having been involved with the hall and the school, you meet a lot of people and you grow up with them,” she said.
“It’s grown so much that we really are a little bit out of touch with a lot of the new ones – It is still a lovely friendly community.”
Harold, 90, said his family has a lot of ties with Gembrook, himself having lived in the area for around 87 years.
“I shifted here when I was three years old from Pakenham Upper,” he said.
“We’ve been in a pretty close family and all got on well together and helped each other.
“We’ve been involved in a lot of things in the community, and that’s why we like the area.”
Kath said having a family has made her and Harold closer.
“I was a stay-at-home mum, but enjoyed the weekends when we used to meet up with friends at the football,” she said.
“In the summer time, we used to go camping with the family at San Remo where we had a permanent caravan and annex; we loved doing that too.”
This September, the pair celebrated 65 years of marriage alongside their family.
“We take it for granted in a sense,” Kath, 92, said.
“We’re very lucky that we are well enough to enjoy our life.
“Having the family around us reasonably close all the time always makes it so much more pleasurable.”
The couple now have nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
“They’re growing like little mushrooms,” Kath said.
