Glittering night in store at diamond wedding bash for Willie and Minnie

Published on Thursday 28 May 2009 09:42

Minnie and Willie King, from Gilmerton, are preparing to celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary.

Willie, 82, and Minnie, 80, will be joined next week by friends and family to celebrate 60 years of marriage.

Mr King was born and raised in Newcraighall, while his future wife was born in Portobello and brought up by her family there.

After leaving school, Mr King went to work at a fruit market on Market Street, while Minnie went into the printing industry.

The couple met in 1947, when Minnie was 18 and Mr King 20.

A mutual friend was celebrating his 21st birthday, and at the party the couple started talking.

"It was just one of those things," said Mr King. "She knew someone who invited her to the party, and as soon as we met we just got on really well."

The couple eventually began dating, attending the local dances together.

They were married two years later, on 4 June, 1949, at Richmond Craigmillar Parish Church on Niddrie Mains Road.

Initially they lived with Mr King's parents but after a short while moved out and got a flat in the New Town, and over the years made several moves, until they settled in a home at Craigmillar Castle Avenue.

Mr King worked for a time at Walls Ice Cream in Craigmillar, before joining Ethicon, a pharmaceutical company owned by Johnson and Johnson, where he worked on the delicate production machines.

Minnie continued to work in the printing industry, where she also worked with machines, and over the years worked on newspaper presses and commercial printing.

The couple had two children, with David born in 1955 and Anne born in 1958.

Now both retired, the couple spend their time attending local clubs, including a local bowling club in Gilmerton, which Mr King said was his main pastime.

"It has been a very happy marriage," he said. "Minnie has been a good wife, and a good mother, and while we have had our differences we have never let them last long. I think the secret has just been about trying to work with each other, and help each other out. I've always tried to make sure I helped around the house and didn't just leave her to do everything. It has been a good 60 years together."

The couple will be joined by their two children, as well as friends and relatives, for a celebration party at the local rugby club on 4 June.