Today – more than 60 years later – Mr Heys and his wife, Anne, who live in St Peter, are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary.
‘I saw him and thought he looked really nice, so my friends dared me to go up to him,’ Mrs Heys (80) said.
At the time of their first encounter she had been working as an accounts administrator for the police and had got the bus from Preston, her home town, with a group of girlfriends for a night out in Blackpool in 1957.
It was there that she spotted Mr Heys – a junior technician with the Royal Air Force who was based in Blackpool at the time – across the dance floor.
‘I asked for a match and he lit my cigarette with a lighter only to tell me to put it out two seconds later because we were going to dance,’ she said. Mr Heys (80) said that they had been ‘dancing ever since’.
Love quickly blossomed between the two 17-year-olds and after just five months of dating Mr Heys asked his future wife’s strict mother if he could take her on holiday to his home in Jersey, which is when Mrs Heys first fell in love with the Island.
Mr Heys added: ‘People in the 50s in Jersey were happier. Now it seems to be all about chasing money and that doesn’t really make anyone truly happy.’
A year later the pair got engaged and were soon married – 60 years ago today – when they were both aged 20 with the permission of both of their parents. They honeymooned in London and Jersey and eventually decided to settle in the Island. They have two children, Colin (59) and Shirley (58).
The couple are due to celebrate with a party with their family and friends at the Somerville Hotel on Satur-
day. And Mr Heys said that the secret of a happy marriage was to share and enjoy life together while being considerate of the other person’s feelings. The couple also love to travel together – citing Cuba and Madeira as their favourite destinations – and are passionate about music, particularly reggae.
‘Live life to the full because it is all you get,’ said Mr Heys. ‘You see so many people wasting their time fighting and rowing – it’s tragic.’
‘We love doing everything together,’ added Mrs Heys.
