A shared love of dancing has led to a lifetime of happiness for a Kirkcaldy couple who have just celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
Tom Gillespie, a resident at the town’s Chapel Level Care Home, marked the milestone with his wife Mary, surrounded by their friends and family.
Staff at the home said it was lovely to be part of the platinum wedding anniversary celebrations for such a “fantastic couple”.
The lovebirds met at the dancing while Tom was home on leave from the Army. He whisked his bride — in a borrowed dress — up the aisle two years later as the pair embarked on seven decades of married bliss.
The couple are both proud Fifers. Mary was born in Dysart in 1929 and Tom, who was born in McKenzie Street, Kirkcaldy, in 1927, will celebrate his 92nd birthday on December 23.
Asked about the secret to a long marriage, Mary kept it simple.
“A lot of give and take,” she said.
“I can’t believe it’s been 70 years.”
Tom served in the Black Watch and was on home leave from Greece, where he was stationed for three years, when he met Mary in 1946 at the Burma Ballroom.
They married on November 27 1948 in Law Studio in Mid Street Kirkcaldy Community Hall. Mary wore a dress borrowed from her next-door neighbour because clothes rationing, introduced during the Second World War, was still in place.
They went on to have two children, Ian in 1952 and Betty in 1949, and are now proud great-grandparents to Adam, Hannah and Sarah.
Prior to retiring in 1986, Mary worked as an office manager at BHS. After leaving the Black Watch, Tom worked for Barry Ostlere and Shepherd and was a self-employed credit salesman in later years.
The couple both enjoyed ballroom dancing, bowls and holidays in Jersey, as well as visits to Blackpool and York.
Tom was a keen golf and snooker player while Mary liked knitting and bingo.
Sarah Fowler, home manager at Chapel Level, part of the HC-One group, said: “It was so lovely to be a part of Tom and Mary’s celebrations.”
