Couple wed after 50 year wait

Aug 2 2007 by Paul James, The Journal

MANY parents warn their sons and daughters about getting married too soon – but one Newcastle couple have waited more than half a century.

Thomas Hedderly and his new wife Elisabeth met in the late 1950s after Elisabeth, nee Scherpf, came to England from Germany to improve her English and found more than a love for the North-East.

And now Thomas, 92, and Elisabeth, 85, are planning their honeymoon when many couples of their age are celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary. Their 50-year courtship ended on Tuesday in a ceremony at Moorfield House nursing home in Gosforth, Newcastle, which was packed with friends and family.

Elisabeth said: “It was Tom’s idea. I think he wants to safeguard me. We never really felt the need before because we’ve always been great friends and friendship is the best thing. We never really discussed it but I’ll do anything to give Tom a cheer.”

Elisabeth said she fell in love with Newcastle, and decided to stay, before meeting Thomas after taking a teaching post at what was then Bedlington Grammar School in Northumberland. He was the deputy head and a French teacher, and the pair found they had a mutual love of languages and classical music.

They both speak French and German, and Thomas learned Italian during three years spent serving with the intelligence corps in the Second World War.

Thomas said: “We have lived and worked together for so long, I decided we should be partners. Suddenly I thought she deserves the title of wife if she wants it.

“And I’m happy to be her husband. My mother would have loved her. She’s looked after me and always put my comfort first, and I’m very, very, grateful.”

The happy couple lived together in Jesmond, Newcastle, until Thomas became ill after a series of strokes. Devoted Elisabeth now visits him every day at Moorfield House.

More than 20 friends and family toasted the bride and groom with glasses of pink champagne at their reception. Moorfield House reserved the finest room in the building for the big day, and the care home was awash with balloons and cards.

Among the guests was Thomas’s son Michael, 65, who travelled from Hampshire. He said: “Tom’s been quite ill for a number of years, and they made a pact that they would look after each other into old age. It’s fitting that they should marry.”

The newlyweds have travelled all over the world together, from Switzerland, France and Germany to the US – but are staying in Newcastle for their honeymoon.