Ken was a Royal Australian Navy sailor serving in the Pacific and Indian oceans aboard corvettes.

The pair met after the war and married in 1946 at St John’s Church of England, Footscray. 

This month they will have been husband and wife for 68 years.

On Thursday, Sybil May celebrated her 90th birthday with Ken and four generations of their family at the Boat Shed Restaurant in Ballarat. 

Those family members included her daughter Sandra Scobie and son Trevor (their other son Neil was in Queensland), and a great-granddaughter, McKenzie, three-and-a-half months old.

Celebrating a 90th birthday is an achievement, but a 68th wedding anniversary is probably a greater one.

“I think it is about being realistic,” Mr May said. 

“And also sticking together.

“I don’t think a lot of young people think about it enough (beforehand). 

“You have to work at it.”

After getting married, Mr and Mrs May moved about a bit. 

That included a stint share-farming on a dairy property where Sybil used to milk cows.

Mr and Mrs May now live at Nazareth House. 

Mrs May’s memory isn’t what it once was but she does remember what a good cold beer tastes like.

“Oh that is very nice, isn’t it?” she said.