Doug and Lorraine Rosenow are celebrating 60 years of marriage.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
Doug Rosenow says he has only ever wanted three things in life: a sleeper cutter, to catch a Murray Cod weighing more than 100 pounds (45kg), and a Ferrari.
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Over the years, he has been able to accomplish all of his dreams, but sometimes people question him about the Ferrari, doubting his most prized achievement.
“It’s my claim to fame that I have got them, and I still have got the Ferrari,” he said.
If you ask him to show you where it is, he’ll proudly point to his wife, Lorraine, with whom he will celebrate 60 years of marriage on Thursday, April 17.
The pair grew up a few doors down from one another on Pakenham St in Echuca, but Doug said it wasn’t until Lorraine was 17 that she started to take him seriously.
“You know what happened? She thought I owned the Barmah Forest, so she thought she’d marry me,” Doug said.
A few years later, they married at St Mary’s Catholic Church in Echuca at 4.30pm, the last-ever couple to be wed in the upstairs civic centre.
Doug and Lorraine Rosenow on their wedding day.
The first night of their honeymoon was spent at the Lockington Hotel, where they ran into a bit of trouble as the hotel was closed when they arrived.
“And it gets better: the bed we got was a single,” Doug said.
“He didn’t mind it,” Lorraine said with a laugh.
They later travelled to Melbourne, Geelong and Mildura on their honeymoon before returning home to Echuca.
Doug worked as a sleeper cutter in Barmah Forest for all of his working life, often on the job seven days per week, and still does cutting demonstrations for events.
Lorraine had work at a bakery and pharmacy in town before their children, Donna and Darren, were born, after which she cared for them full-time.
The Rosenows have spent holidays and time off camping along the Murray River, and make annual trips to Tasmania, and to Mildura with friends via houseboat.
They now live on a property just outside Echuca, where they have been for 25 years, with both of their children living close by.
The couple has lived at the current house for 25 years.
Photo by
JORDAN TOWNROW
“Lorraine looks after the animals here. She loves the animals,” Doug said.
There are two cows, two alpacas named Socks and Latte and two wild ducks that make twice-daily visits to the house, along with a cat that regularly comes by for food.
“And we started off with two sheep and now we’ve got 18 because they all had twins,” Lorraine said.
Approaching 60 years together, Doug said the secret to their longevity was letting each other be themselves.
“We didn’t say ‘you can’t do this, or you can’t do that’. People do that and then there’s an argument,” he said.
“I looked after her, but she’s well worth looking after, and still is.”
Doug and Lorraine will celebrate their anniversary by making a return to the Lockington Hotel, this time just for dinner.
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