Lower Mount Walker residents Jeanette and Alan Johanson recently celebrated 60 years of marriage, which they say has been filled with love, family and good times.
Their story started after they met at the Presbyterian Youth Fellowship of Australia where Alan was a youth leader.
Alan grew up on the family farm which incorporated a vineyard and an orchard.
He remembers his youth as being surrounded by a large and incredible family who held many picnics and gatherings on their property.
Jeanette said that she was instantly attracted to Alan and it felt like love at first sight after they met at their fellowship group where Alan would often offer her a lift home after their meetings.
“It was at Alan’s 21st birthday party where I really got to know him,” she recalls.
“I was quite shy at first but the chemistry that we had soon calmed me and before too long I knew that we shared something special.”
The couple were soon married at the Presbyterian Church in Stanthorpe on August 19, 1961 by the uncle of the groom, Reverend James Sweet.
Jeanette was a home science teacher at the Stanthorpe Rural School. She designed and created her own wedding dress – a classical gown of magnolia satin.
The venue for the special occasion was decorated with masses of almond blossoms, daffodils and white camellias by friends and relatives, which set the scene around a three-tier wedding cake that was beautifully iced by Jeanette.
It was an occasion of celebration and love and according to Jeanette, was the start of a wonderful life together.
There was a special bond that Jeanette says was sparked by an instant connection from the moment she met her Alan.
After they married, they moved onto a friend’s property and in 1965 the couple decided to leave Stanthorpe to move to a dairy farm in Lower Mount Walker.
Over time, Alan became involved in the changes to bulk transportation of milk to the Jacaranda factory.
He started as a member of the board, then he became the chairman of the board, before later taking on the role as Manager at the West Moreton Milk Co-Operative.
Jeanette’s career as a teacher of home economics and music continued first at Laidley North School then Rosewood State School and Rosewood High School.
The couple were blessed with four children David, Lynn, Jean and Andrew who all helped on the farm and attended school in Rosewood.
“During our farming life, we faced many good times and some challenging, through drought and floods and the demands of the farm, life was always busy,” Alan said.
“Often when our children were young, they would join us in the stroller when there was work to be done, then as the years went on the children would run around and enjoy the farm life.”
Jeanette and Alan also opened their property to troubled youth who came to work on the farm to rebuild their life, earn some money and find their purpose.
“The dairy farm was one of many in the area, friends and neighbours became like family and everybody looked after each other,” Alan said.
“These farms were sold or split into smaller properties, we gave up dairying in the late 1970’s later turning the farm into grain growing and cattle.”
Alan retired as Manager of the West Moreton Milk Co-Operative in 1996, while Jeanette shifted her teaching expertise from Rosewood to Westside Christian College until her retirement in 1990.
With a family of four children, 13 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren, Jeanette and Alan say they have been surrounded by love and many special times.
Family gatherings, watching their children grow and being there to look after, support and teach their grandchildren and great grandchildren have been major highlights for them.
They have enjoyed day trips, journeys to Sydney, being involved with the Lower Mount Walker Fire Brigade, heading to the Sunshine Coast and trips to the Philippines.
During their 60 years of marriage, they have always been members of a church and for the past 50 years active members of the Central Presbyterian, a legacy that they plan to continue.
