FORTY friends will help Ormiston couple Bob and Denise Cannock celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary at the Old Courthouse restaurant in Cleveland on Sunday.
Originally from Hobart, the couple married at Saint Therese's Catholic Church, Moonah, on February 6, 1965.
Denise was born at Wooloongabba during World War II.
Her father, Dalmacio Surigao, served as a Filipino bodyguard to US General Douglas MacArthur, returning to Leyte to free his homeland in 1944.
The family did not renunite until 1954 in Hobart, where Denise had become a talented pop singer.
She met Bob, a football umpire, in 1962, days before he was to move to Canberra.
Lovesick, Bob returned to Hobart on Denise's 19th birthday and they have been together ever since.
The couple and their two children moved to Daisy Hill in 1982 and they have two grand- children.
After 48 years of public service, Bob retired from his role as a court registrar and later a facilities planner.
Denise worked as an insurance officer, librarian and for 10 years as a hospital volunteer.
On the eve of Denise's birthday, the couple, aged 71, achieved their aim of moving bayside, 52 years after having first met.
They now look forward to quieter years ahead in Redlands nearer to their family.
