My Account
Eric and Winsome Hanna’s 70th (platinum) wedding anniversary on March 6 was a milestone in a life together that has seen them weather more adventures than most – including four days adrift at sea after their yacht went down in a storm.
Eric was 19 when he met Winsome, two years older, at a Christmas dance in Mt Maunganui in 1950.
Winsome says her mum didn’t want her to go down to the Mount from Auckland, as it was “quite a wild place in those days”. But she went with three girlfriends and promised to stay in a quiet part of the campsite.
After meeting at the dance, their relationship blossomed, and they were married in 1954 at St Barnabas Anglican Church in Mt Eden.
Eric worked as an armature winder and later serviced home appliances, mostly self-employed.
The Stanmore Bay couple became Seventh Day Adventists and their faith has played a major role in their lives. Eric served as a senior elder in the Ōrewa congregation for 30 years, and Winsome played the organ and piano for 55 years.
Eric, who will turn 92 in May, attributes “the Adventist lifestyle” to their longevity.
That lifestyle, which he said is encouraged but not mandatory, includes a mostly vegetarian diet and “no boozing”.
Winsome adds that they start every day with a smoothie, made with home-grown greens, olive oil and nuts.
“I reckon that’s what’s helped us so much. If only everyone would do it.”
As for the longevity of their marriage, “our beliefs are a huge part of what has kept us together”.
“If I hadn’t had my wife I don’t think I’d be alive now, and also not be independent,” says Eric.
“Having a good husband and being in our own home, at our age – that makes a big difference. I can potter around the garden. If I was in a rest home I’d be stuck with all the ladies, just sitting there,” Winsome laughs. “Companionship is very important – not being on your own. You want somebody with you as you get older. If one gets down, the other one pulls them up.”
That teamwork was sorely needed at Easter 1982, when their 39 foot yacht Wiremu was caught in Tropical Cyclone Bernie between Gisborne to Tauranga, and went down.
Eric, Winsome, their son Doug and friend Les Reynolds spent four days and five nights in an enclosed life raft.
“The first night was the worst,” Eric recalls. “The raft capsized several times, and the boys had to get out and right it”. Winsome, who stayed inside, remembers “just flopping and flipping over and over. There was just enough room to breathe, and I hung on.”
A lot of prayer went up from that life raft – and from their church congregation back home.
By the time they were spotted by an Air Force Orion they had drifted around 125 nautical miles (230 km), to somewhere east of Great Barrier Island.
Hours after the Orion saw their hand-held flare, a diverted research vessel arrived and their ordeal was over.
They made headlines in the papers for a few days, which Winsome says was a little embarrassing afterwards as people would approach her in the street.
Eric plays golf, Winsome, who was active in the horticulture club for years, says gardening keeps her busy, and they are both still involved in church activities.
Looking across at his life partner, with a twinkle in his eye, Eric says, “You Winsome, you lose some! I was a winner.”
