Albert Oliver Cohen

  Research Information:

The following information is courtesy of Tony Cohen (Nov. 07)

Newspaper article in the Nelson Mail Tuesday December 31st 1996 by Greg Hurrell. When Jean and Albert Cohen married in 1936 they'd spent only a short time together in the year after they first met. Yesterday the Spring Grove couple celebrated 60 years of marriage and the 61st anniversary of the day they first met in Wellington. Mr Cohen had been motorcycling from Reefton to Marton when he stopped off in Wellington. "From the day I spotted her I fell in love with her," he said. "I never got to Marton." Mrs Cohen's first impressions were just as favorable: "He was nice and he was kind and he was not silly." Because Mr Cohen was working in the West Coast coal mines the pair only saw each other sporadically - a week at Easter and a fortnight in June - before the December wedding. The newlyweds spent the next 18 years living in the tiny settlement of Cronadun, 11 km from Reefton. Although Reefton was the first place in the Southern Hemisphere with electricity, Corandun had to wait until the 1950's to get power. Mrs Cohen didn't mind the isolation though. "We were so busy we didn't seem to notice it." Some 40 years ago the couple moved to Spring Grove. The charming old villa is surrounded by a well-tended garden - although Mrs Cohen says her husband's fading eyesight means a few few good plants come out with the weeds. The couple have raised four children, three of whom are nearby in Wakefield, and the fourth lives in Stoke. They now have 14 grandchildren and more than 20 great-grandchildren. "Ive lost count of them" said Mrs Cohen. Asked for the secret of a long and happy marriage, the couple almost answered in unison: "Plenty of love, patience and working together." "We don't believe that you never have a difference - but you settle your differences," Mrs Cohen added. The couple celebrated their anniversary with an afternoon tea at the local hall.

Albert married Jean Egerton on 30 Dec 1936.