When he saw her, he knew he would marry her.

More than 65 years ago Dick, 93, saw Murielle, 90, and it was love at first sight.

The Second World War and the Depression came and went, but their love remained constant despite Dick’s absence. The retired pharmaceutical representative served with the Royal Canadian Air Force two weeks after marrying Murielle in front of 900 people at the Markham Street Tabernacle on May 16, 1942.

The pair has stayed together ever since.

The first question for most is how did they do it?

“We didn’t know we could quit,” Dick said, laughing. “We’ve had a wonderful life and been all over.”

Born in Pevensy, Ontario, located southeast of Sundridge, the “lumberman’s daughter” first met Dick at a St. Patrick’s Day party.

Murielle’s friend Gwen Durnan brought a new boyfriend Ernie Aldom, to the party. Aldom brought along his brother Dick.

From her unpublished autobiography, Murielle said she didn’t even notice Dick and was actually “annoyed” at being partnered up with “this big hulk of a guy” during games.

During tea, while standing next to Dick, Murielle stole several sugar cubes off his plate when he wasn’t looking. Dick made jokes all night about it, knowing she had taken them.

The day after the party, Gwen called Murielle and asked for a double date, including Ernie and Dick.

Every week, the foursome double-dated on Saturdays and Dick and Murielle went out on Sundays. That summer Dick proposed. Murielle, however, was undecided, unsure if she felt as strongly for him as he did for her. She eventually broke off their relationship to really understand her own feelings for him. He said if she changed her mind she would have to call him.

Three days later, with her stomach in knots, and no phone calls from Dick, Murielle relented and picked up the phone. Dick’s mother answered and told her he was in bed ill with a kidney stone. Murielle went to him and although he was drugged up, Dick promised to go out with her the next day for a date.

“The pain in my own heart vanished and I knew I was in love,” she said.

For their honeymoon, the couple camped out at Crystal Island, situated in South River. Like he did with his wife, Dick fell in love with the location instantly and knew he would buy it. Five years later, in 1948, he purchased the property.

Dick said he will always have a soft spot for the place they honeymooned and later made regular trips to it all year, including travelling by canoe in the summer and by cross-country skis in the winter. Their children have since added cottages of their own to the island.

The couple has had a storied life and much of it was never far from each other, whether it was embracing the outdoors hiking and canoeing, or teaching in Africa during their retirement.

The couple taught for three years in Zambia, paying out of their own pocket for the experience since the salary was only half of their living expenses.

“We decided to finish our career working with these people that needed help,” Dick said. “If you don’t try to help others, then no one is going to help you.”

Murielle was an educator much of her life, while Dick spent the early part of his life in science labs. He then spent the next part of his life travelling to educate doctors of pharmaceutical products for 30 years. Both of them later taught at Georgian College in Orillia. He taught science, while she taught commercial skills — skills associated with office work.

The couple also ran a children’s camp for seven years in Nova Scotia. The year-round camp had as many as 150 children and included weekend adult groups during the winter.

“We didn’t want to retire. You don’t want to retire. I’ve retired three times and it didn’t work,” he said.

The last several years, since Murielle suffered a fall, have been challenging. Murielle lives at the Pines Long-Term Care Residence in Bracebridge and is bound by a wheelchair with limited speech. Dick, however, visits her regularly and is appreciative to the staff at the nursing home.

The couple has five children, three sons and two daughters that they raised on a 25-acre farm in Willowdale and then a 300-acre farm in Queensville at the bottom of Lake Simcoe. Dick said there are 22 grandchildren, with 36 great-grandchildren and four more on their way.

He can’t imagine the last 65 years of life without her.

“We’re very, very much in love. We’re not happy when we’re separated. We like to do the same things pretty well. Murielle likes the outdoors,” he said. “We’re canoeists. We always had a canoe on our car roof . . . Murielle is the smartest woman I have ever met.”