11 January 2022
Ian and Lorraine began volunteering for Harbour Hospice in 2015. Both in their 90s, they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in February 2021, and while there’s no missing pieces in their jigsaw puzzle, this devoted couple spend their Saturday mornings at the Ellice Road Hospice Shop sorting and checking the puzzles and jigsaws that generous donors bring in.
We don’t know many who’ve been married for as long as you have. What’s your secret to a lasting marriage?
Ian: We are tolerant, we get along well and we don’t upset one another. I think it’s a lot to do with the period in which we grew up in. You got married for life in those days.
Lorraine: And we do things together, and always consult one another before anything’s done.
How did you meet?
Ian: We met in college. We both attended Northcote District High School and went to a few dances and seemed to click. Apparently, I passed muster with her parents, and it went from there. We got married six years later at the Methodist Church in Birkenhead and went on to have four children. We’re now grandparents of five and we have one great grandchild.
What led you to volunteer for Harbour Hospice?
Lorraine: I used to see the ladies down at Milford doing the Tree of Remembrance so I called hospice and offered to help; I organised a few others from our retirement village to do shifts as well. Not long after someone from hospice came to our village to give a talk and Ian and I decided we’d like to volunteer for hospice together.
Ian: We’ve done a lot of volunteering over the years – school committees, rugby clubs, Plunket – Lorraine received a 25-year service medal for Plunket – and she’s done a lot of knitting for babies and children in need.
But what was it about hospice?
Lorraine: When my mother died from cancer in 1979 there wasn’t anything around like hospice. When I look back at how Mum suffered it would have been lovely if there had. It’s certainly a worthy cause and it needs support.
What can you tell us about trends in jigsaws and puzzles?
Lorraine: WASGIJ jigsaws are hugely popular – they’re a type of back-to-front jigsaw and we just can’t get enough of them in. Jigsaws are most popular in winter; customers do a lot of puzzles during lockdowns.
Click here to find out how you can make a difference in your community as a Harbour Hospice volunteer.
