“They don’t go and sit down. They stand there,” Bruce said.
He wasn’t wearing his glad rags and, instead, had his red-and-black bush shirt on.
But that didn’t seem to deter Beverley. When Bruce plucked up the courage to ask Beverley to dance, he could see her mind “ticking over”.
It turned out that Beverley needed a ride home.
She had ridden her bicycle to the dance and would have had to bike about 6km home in “pitch black” afterwards.
Beverley accepted, and the two took to the dance floor.
But it wasn’t until the dance partners bumped into a mutual friend, who confirmed Bruce was “a nice guy”, that Beverley made up her mind about her new beau.
She asked him for a ride home, and Bruce delivered her safely.
Bruce and Beverley looking at a photo from their wedding day. Photo / Kelly O’Hara
Bruce returned to Beverley’s home on his motorcycle the next day to see how she was.
Her father greeted him with “That’s a nice motorbike you’ve got there”, and invited him on a hunting trip.
So off they went on a two-day deer hunting trip around Mt Ruapehu.
“We hunted around and looked everywhere, but we never saw an animal there.”
He may not have found any deer, but he did win Beverley’s heart.
The couple were married in Stratford in 1951.
Bruce said it “rained like hell” on their wedding day.
“It was pouring, and when we came out [of the church], it was sunny.”
Bruce and Beverley on their wedding day.
Reminiscing about their youth, Bruce said Beverley was “bright and switched on”.
“Fast on her feet. She could do anything.”
They were always “first on the floor” at the town dances.
Bruce said their favourite dance was the quick step.
The same year they were married, the couple moved to the Waikato, then Rotorua in 1962 and Tauranga in 1992, where they have been since.
The Bay of Plenty Times asked Bruce what had drawn the couple together.
“Firstly, I had a motorbike,” Bruce joked.
But there was an element of truth to the joke. Motorcycles became a lifelong passion for the couple – and later, their children.
Bruce taught Beverley how to ride. He would put his legs down when the motorcycle stopped because Beverley’s legs were too short.
Throughout their lives, Beverley owned three motorcycles of her own, while Bruce had 30.
Bruce and Beverley have four sons: Geoffrey, Stephen, Paul, and Neil.
The pair had four sons, all of whom inherited their parents’ love for motorcycles. They also have 11 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
Beverley was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2013, and the couple moved into Althorp Village in Pyes Pā in 2014.
One of their sons, Paul, told a story about his parents driving together during their retirement.
Bruce had trouble with his vision, so he could not drive.
Beverley did all the driving, but her weak shoulder made it difficult to steer.
“So he [Bruce] would help Mum. Mum would be turning to the right, and Dad would help turn the wheel.”
That kind of teamwork is the secret to 75 years of happy marriage, according to Bruce. That, and motorcycles.
“You do things that you’re both interested in.”
Bijou Johnson is a multimedia journalist based in Bay of Plenty. A passionate writer and reader, she grew up in Tauranga and developed a love for journalism while exploring various disciplines at university. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies from Massey University.