**By Jo Knowsley
They’ve seen the world change beyond recognition, but through 72 years of marriage, Pat and Arthur Pullin knew they could always depend on each other…**
It was 1936, and a warm evening in the rural Victorian town of Korumburra. But Beatrice — or Pat, as she prefers to be called — was still working, stitching the final touches onto the white satin and lace gown that heralded the start of her new life.
Pat, her fiancé Arthur Pullin and their families had endured the Great Depression and were about to see their country engulfed by the Second World War.
But Pat, a talented seamstress who was making her own elegant bridal outfit, as well as dresses for her two bridesmaids, could only think that within hours she was to marry the man she loved.
Arthur, on the other hand, recalls that long-ago wedding day with dry humour.
“We were both 30 and I think we were relieved we weren’t going to be left on the shelf,” he quips. “I had met her at a dance and I wasn’t smitten immediately.
“But we were both Poms. We’d emigrated from England with our families — me when I was five and Pat when she was 12 — and we’d sort of stuck to and grown together.
“We liked the same things. Getting married seemed like a good idea.”
Today, 72 years later, he admits it was a good match. He and Pat are now both 103, and the world’s oldest married couple — though not the longest-married. It’s a thought that Arthur, a plumber, tank maker and inventive metalworker before he retired, finds amusing.
For the full story, see this week’s Woman’s Day (on sale February 9).
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