An Aberdeen couple who have been married for 70 years have said the best advice is to never go to bed on an argument.
Bill, who turned 90 today, and 88-year-old Evelyn Whyte live in the Summerhill area of the city, got married on April 9, 1955.
Originally from Fife, the couple met at secondary school in Cowdenbeath, although they both admit they did not “hit it off” immediately.
The Press and Journal went to their home in Aberdeen to discuss what being married for seven decades is like.
“It feels just like yesterday,” Bill – who clearly has a mischievous sense of humour – said.
“We were having a disagreement just five minutes ago. I said, ‘you better stop’,” his wife Evelyn interjected in a joking manner.
Bill and Evelyn met the old-fashioned way
With dating apps and websites a common way for people to meet their partner in 2025, the platinum anniversary couple met in the most common way of the 1950s – dancing.
“We had no places like nightclubs or lounges to take girls out,” Bill said, adding: “You only went to dancing and that’s the only place boys met girls.”
In 1963, the couple – along with their son Brian – moved from Fife to the new town of Cumbernauld.
During their stay there, the couple welcomed two more sons, Grahame and Kevin.
An assistant electrical engineer, in 1971 Bill was appointed the principal engineer within the city architects department of the then Corporation (council) of the City of Aberdeen.
Living in a “lovely” flat provided by the council on Rubislaw Terrace in west end, Evelyn and the couple’s three sons delayed their move to Aberdeen by “nearly a year” to allow their eldest to complete his highers at school.
A home in Aberdeen for the Whyte family
Due to Aberdeen’s burgeoning oil industry, properties were hot commodities in the city in the 1970s.
Bill decided to act quickly and snapped up a family home at Harcourt Road in the Midstocket area.
“She didn’t see it,” Bill tells me.
“I got a photograph taken of it and sent it down saying, ‘I hope you like it’.”
Evelyn certainly did like it, as the couple lived there for 30 years. They then moved to their current bungalow in the early 2000s.
Whytes are now great-grandparents
As well as having three children, who are all now on pensions themselves, the couple are also grandparents to three and have two great-grandchildren.
The couple made a life for themselves in the north-east, with Evelyn teaching at Fernielea School and “many others”.
In 2005, the Whytes celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, which fell on the same day as the wedding of the now King Charles and The Queen.
Son Grahame chirped in: “Every time we’ve got to a milestone, when it was 50 we couldn’t quite believe it. Then it was 60. I don’t know that any of us ever anticipated getting to 70.”
They received a congratulatory card from King Charles and The Queen at the weekend to celebrate them reaching their 70th anniversary.
Yesterday they had a family celebration at the plush Marcliffe Hotel, which included a champagne reception and a private meal.
Lord Provost David Cameron, who, in his role as lord lieutenant visited to congratulate them on the milestone.
Due to Bill’s 90th birthday being today, the happy couple have decided to “push the boat out” and treat themselves and are staying in the hotel’s junior suite.
Bill and Evelyn say ‘it’s give and take’
Bill’s advice for a successful marriage is simple.
“It’s give and take,” he told me.
“We have arguments, but you try and resolve the argument during the day.
“Don’t go to bed on an argument, you wouldn’t want to harbour things like that.”
“I can still laugh with my wife, that’s the main thing.”
Conversation