65 years of Ohakune marriage

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 8, Issue 383, 23 April 1991, Page 3

65 years of Ohakune marriage

An Ohakune couple marked 65 years of marriage this month, and put their long and happy partnership down to working together and sharing, and dancing in their younger years.

"Not your dancing of today's kind," said Frank Mischewski. "You've got to get close." Frank and Alma Mischewski were married 65 years ago in the Ohakune Catholic

Church which is now the Lions Den and just a few hundred metres from their home. "Getting up early and going to bed early helps too," said Mr Mischewski.

"But we both liked dancing very much - Caledonian dancing," said Mrs Mischewski. She said Frank was the master of ceremonies at many of the dances they attended. A surprise on their special day was the telegrams and cards they received. Messages came from Internal Affairs

Minister Graeme Lee, Prime Minister Jim Bolger and the Governor General Dame Cath Tizard. The biggest surprise for the couple though, was a telegram from Windsor Castle signed Elizabeth R which, when it arrived, Mr Mischewski asked to be read out loud by the deliverer. "He came inside and

told me it was a telegram from the Queen, but I said don't be silly - how do you know, you can't see," said Mrs Mischewski. She said because her own eyesight is fading she took the telegram out to the postie and asked her to read it to her, confirming that it was a message of congratulations from the Queen. The couple have spent most of their days in Ohakune, with Frank working for Mrs Mischewski's father on his farm which is now Miro Park. He also worked at Bennett and Punch's mill on the Dreadnought Road, until he was about 71 (that's about 20 years ago). They spent four years at Mamaku during "the slump" in the 30s but came back to Ohakune to work. The cold climate doesn't bother the Mischewskis - they didn't feel the need to move away after retiring as many people do. "We left it too late to move," said Frank. "We had a lot of friends here and we're still making new ones." The couple are members of the Raetihi and Ohakune senior citizens which, though they can't take part in many of their activities because of their failing eyesight *- they do enjoy because they spend time with friends. Their family had planned to help the couple celebrate their anniversary but before the day their son-in-law who lived in Wanganui passed away, so they didn't have the heart for celebrations. "We'll probably have a celebration for our

70th anniversary," said Frank. In the mean-time the couple are looking forward to enjoying the

company of their close family - their three daughters and one son, 11 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren.