True Love Remains Strong After More Than Five Decades

After more than 50 years of marriage and several stints living overseas in America and Canada, the love lives on for Mercy Place Mont Clare residents Jill and Alan Morton, who are 82 and 88 years of age respectively.

The pair will celebrate their 54th Valentine’s Day together on Monday and readily admit their happy union has centred on always being honest and true to each other.

The couple met in Sydney when Alan – who played for the Wallabies in his 20s and was one of Australia's premier rugby union wingers in the mid-to-late1950s – was playing in the same rugby match as Jill’s twin brother.  The pair has been together ever since.

After marrying on Boxing Day 1958 in a small church just by Sydney Harbour Bridge, the newlyweds left for the USA the next day, where Alan would begin studying for his PhD in exercise physiology.

“After I finished my doctorate at the University of Oregon I got a job in Victoria, British Colombia, and that’s where we had our first child,” explains Alan, who was born in Queanbeyan near Canberra and completed several successful Wallaby tours of the British Isles, France and North America as well as being chosen as rugby captain when Western Australia played the All Blacks in 1970. 

“We were there for a couple of years and loved it, though we found we couldn’t actually afford to travel back to Australia.  Fortunately, I was offered a job at UWA and we were flown back to Perth where we’ve been ever since.”

The couple went on to settle in Wembley Downs and have two more children – two girls - and now their family brood includes six grandchildren.

“We’ve had a wonderful life together; in my opinion a good marriage is centred around always thinking about your spouse’s feelings and being truthful,” adds Alan, who was also awarded the Member of the Order of Australia for the development of Sports Science in Australia back in 2001.

Mercy Place Mont Clare General Manager, Amanda Page, says couples like Jill and Alan epitomise what Valentine’s Day is all about; having true commitment and respect for each other, as well as love.

“Jill and Alan partnership is true testament to a long, happy and adventure-filled marriage,” she said. “It will be wonderful to see them celebrate Valentine’s Day; they are certainly a couple who, even after all of these years, love each other very much.”

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