Couple mark 73 years of wedded bliss

Jack Sheldon, 94, originally from Ripley and wife Marion, 93, from Waingroves, met when they were about 15 at Codnor’s fairground and have been together ever since.

Marion was a factory worker and later the supervisor at I&R Morley. Jack became a shop assistant after leaving school before joining the Grenedier Guards as a superintendent sergeant in 1940.

He had been inspired by his father Edwin, who had been in the Army and fought in World War One. Edwin twice won the military medal and was presented with one on Ripley Market, while his mother Elizabeth holds the title of the first 1st Lady of Ripley.

Jack said: “My dad had been in the Army and I thought it would be a big adventure. I saw a guard in a bear skin uniform, but I only got a tin helmet!”

During his time in the Guards, Jack lived in the barracks Caterham, Surrey, while Marion stayed in Waingroves because of the bombing during World War Two.

The Sheldons, who now live at Lake Avenue, Loscoe, married on June 14, 1941, making this year their 73rd together. They have two sons, Michael, who lives in Austrailia, and Stephen, and four grandchildren and nine great- grandchildren.

Jack said: “I’m the luckiest man alive.”

Though the couple don’t have any major celebrations plans, they are kept busy with their hobbies. Marion enjoys cooking, sewing and gardening, while Jack enjoys fishing and golf.