Former Thetford mayor and wife celebrate 60 years of married life

John and Audrey Room celebrate their Diamond Wedding at Brakendon Close. Photo: Bill Smith (Image: Archant © 2014)

They poured over Theology textbooks at Oxford University but never had the chance to meet.

It wasn't until the July following their graduation that Audrey and John Room finally met in Manchester and began what has become a 60-year marriage.

At the time, Manchester-born Mrs Room was working as a child care officer while Mr Room, from Dunstable in Bedfordshire, was studying to be a clergyman.

Just nine months after they started dating, the couple, who live together in sheltered housing in Brakendon Close in Norwich, married in a north Yorkshire village church.

84-year-old Mrs Room, 84, said that although at the time people said they rushed, they 'just knew it would work'.

At first, they set up home in Slough and had their three children - Jenny, 59, Liz, 58, and Tim, 52. But in 1970, the family packed their bags to set up home in Thetford - where they stayed for almost two decades until they retired.

Vicar Mr Room, 90, had a love for local politics, serving as Thetford mayor from 1978 to 1979 and chair of Breckland Council from 1986 to 1987.

From Thetford, the couple moved to Beechwood Drive in Thorpe St Andrew, until they decided to settle in Brakendon Close two years ago.

Almost 60 of their friends and family surrounded them at a party to mark the special occasion last week.

The couple have six grandchildren - Michael, Stephen, Sam, Nick, Katie and Charlotte.

Mrs Room, who worked as a community worker with social sevices, said that the secret to their happy marriage was that they had both lived busy lives.

She said: 'You don't need to be together all the time - have parallel lives. John and I were both doing different things and it made us stronger.

'You just need to find the right person.'

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