Couple who met at school enjoy 50th wedding anniversary

Couple who met at school enjoy 50th wedding anniversary

29 July 2020

A LOCAL couple who met at school and whose love grew at a church youth group have recently celebrated 50th years of marriage.

Jim and Angela Wilson marked their golden anniversary with a family party with their three sons and their wives and nine grandchildren.

The Saintfield couple, who now live in Comber, married on July 17, 1970 at Saintfield Parish Church and honeymooned, like many others of their generation, at home.

Angela was just 17 and Jim 20 when they got married but despite their tender years starting off married life, the happy couple wouldn’t turn the clock back.

Retired motor mechanic Jim said: “We met at Saintfield High School and used to go the local youth club, I was in the BB and Angela was in the GB. We were going out for a few years before we got married.”

He joked: “One night at the youth club she beat me playing darts and I never played a darts game again.”

Jim added that the number 17 was special to the family: “Angela and I got married on the 17th, our son James has a birthday on the 17th and there’s now 17 of us in the family so it’s our favourite number.”

Jim and Angela would to thank everyone for all the gifts and cards they received.

Along with their daughters-in-law, Victoria, Louise and Tracey, the couple delight in their grandchildren, Chloe, Brittany, Jodie, Calum, Erin, Harry, Ella, Aidan and Cate who range in ages from 22—8.

Now aged 70 and 67 respectively, Jim and Angela raised their sons — James, Sam and Raymond — at their Lessans home, just outside Saintfield, before they moved to Ballygowan and then on to Comber. 

Jim and his sons are well known for their love of motocross and auto testing. 

He  was a member of the local Peak Performance club and now is a member of the Classic Autotest Motorclub, a highly regarded association which fundraises for local charities.