A dinner with their son, Ian, and some friends marked the occasion.

They pair first met by chance in Sydney.

“I was waiting with my friend who was meeting her boyfriend and Kelvin was with him,” Joan recalled.

“We ended up going to a dance. They didn’t get married but we did.”

Kelvin, 20, was in the Navy and Joan, 19, was working in an office when they met. Just over a year later, on October 20, 1951, they married at St Matthew’s Church Of England in Windsor.

They built a house in Riverstone then, three years later, bought a home in Charm Haven on the Central Coast.

Joan and Kelvin retired to the Camden Haven after spending many holidays here. They have lived at Camden View Village for 11 years.

Joan and Kelvin are active retirees and enjoy playing tennis, golf and bowls.

Joan said a shared interest in sport helps keep the marriage strong.

“You’ve got to have a lot of patience too. Things don’t always go right all the time and the fellas do try we women at times,” she joked.

Kelvin and Joan have two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.