By Kelly Yates
FAMILY means everything to a Berwick couple who recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
Bill and Margaret Murphy marked the special day on Saturday 10 October with a helicopter flight over Uluru, a present from one of their children.
The couple met while working in their home town, Belfast in Northern Ireland, when Mrs Murphy was 17 and Mr Murphy was 19.
“We had a dance at work and Bill escorted me to the dance floor and that was it, I knew he was the one,” Mrs Murphy said.
They were married five years later and had four children, Maria, Sharon, Stephen and Paul.Their oldest son Stephan died at the age of 23 after a work accident.
The pair moved from Northern Ireland to Australia in 1980 because of what Mrs Murphy described as a “conflict back home.”
“Australia was a safer place,” Mrs Murphy said. “We came here first for a holiday and liked what we saw.”
The 73-year-old said they chose to call Berwick home because of the village feel it had.
The pair has since travelled back to Northern Ireland about six times to visit relatives and friends.
Mr Murphy is an associate member of the Berwick RSL, and the pair is also involved in the St Vincent de Paul Society in Berwick.
Mrs Murphy says the key to a successful marriage is understanding and respect.
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