NOEL Griffiths walked into Cudgewa’s Permewan Wright general store one day in 1945 and emerged a changed man.
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Mr Griffiths, recently returned from fighting the Japanese in New Guinea, was working as a station hand near Tintaldra and wanted to buy some rationed tobacco.
The young woman behind the counter said she couldn’t sell him any but by then Mr Griffith had forgotten about the tobacco.
“Wow, did you see that lady!” he thought to himself outside the store.
The lady’s name was Ilma Humphrey and Mr Griffith met her again at a dance at Cudgewa to celebrate VP Day.
Every week for the next nine months, Mr Griffith rode 25km from the station to see his future bride in Cudgewa and they were married at the town’s Anglican church.
He was 21 and she was 19.
That was 60 years ago and on Saturday they celebrated the milestone with family and friends at their North Albury home in Logan Rd.
Mr Griffiths became a plasterer working in Sydney before Albury.
They had three children, Carmel, Al and Jennifer, and have since seen their family grow to include eight grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
