Image

August 26, 2016

If you’re looking for the definition of true partnership, you might want to consider Ted and Marguerite Butler.

The Oakdale couple is celebrating 70 years of marriage, a life-long partnership of friends and coworkers.

The couple met on a double date about 72 years ago – however they weren’t dating each other Marguerite told The Herald during a small family celebration in Florence. “We were both with someone else.”

Later, Ted showed up at her door and soon Ted was making the drive from Oakdale to Croton on a regular basis. While they dated for two years, Marguerite trained to be a teacher and took over the Union School between Camden and Dawn Townships. It was the same school Ted’s mother had taught in.

Pretty soon the pair were planning for a wedding at the United Church in Croton. Marguerite remembers the day well. “It rained in the morning but the sun came out in the afternoon,” she says. A photograph shows the couple standing among the trees decked in their finest, both smiling broadly. “I though she looked pretty good,” says Ted.

When asked if they ever thought they would make it to 70 years, they both smile and then Marguerite says “I hardly remember a day I wasn’t married.”

Through out their marriage, the pair have been true partners, working side-by-side on the family farm. “She helped me to do everything,” says Ted. “Something she took longer to learn – like running a cross cut saw – but she can do anything I asked her.”

Well, almost anything, interjected Marguerite. “There wasn’t anything I couldn’t do on the farm, other than cultivate. I never did learn to do that,” she says with a laugh.

Both say their love of hard work is among their best qualities.

And while there was always work, there was also a lot of fun; much of that with friends who would come to their home to play cards. “Sometimes we’d play till two or three in the morning, but it was all in fun,” says Marguerite.

And the pair is still full of fun; they received 70th Anniversary congratulations from the Queen Elizabeth II, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Prime Minister to which Marguerite joked “I guess I’d better not be so hard on him now.”

The pair still lives on their farm together – Ted is 93, Marguerite will be 90 in October. “We look after each other,” says Marguerite.

Share This

Image
Front Page

Memorial to the fallen in Petrolia

November 1, 2024

Catherine Lesley, Petrolia Mayor Brad Loosley and Joe Card were among the volunteers at Hillsdale Cemetery in Petrolia Friday morning erecting over 400 crosses in memory of the veterans buried there. The Margaret Stokes IODE spearheads the project with members of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 26 helping out. This year, volunteers also planted 3,500 daffodil bulbs near the memorial

Read More

Image
Front Page

A pre-teen charged with assault after school fight in Forest

November 1, 2024

A 12 year-old is facing assault charges after an incident at a Forest school Lambton OPP were called to MacDonald Street in Forest, near Kinwood Central School, for a report of a disturbance. Police are releasing no details of what happened, saying only there were no serious injuries. A 12 year-old from Lambton County has been charged with four counts

Read More

Image
Front Page

North Middlesex hands Flyers a rare loss

November 1, 2024

Former Flyer Maddox Nazwaski made 30 saves to backstop the North Middlesex Stars to a 3-1 win in Petrolia Thursday. The St. Thomas native is now 4-1 on the season for the Parkhill-based Stars with a 2.46 goals against average and a .937 save percentage. Ethan Everaert made 24 stops for Petrolia. It was his first loss in more than

Read More

Image
Front Page

Wheelie bins roll into Petrolia in two weeks

October 31, 2024

Heather Wright/The Independent You’ll soon be getting your new garbage and recycling wheelie bins. Town of Petrolia Operations Director, Mike Thompson, said Monday Waste Management will begin using the automatic collection system, which requires the specialized wheelie carts, Dec. 4. “This will entail the delivery of 64 gallon carts to all town residential properties, theweek of Nov. 18-29,” said Thompson

Read More