Our People
8 November, 2025
Celebrating 50 years together
SO many things have come and gone in Ararat over the past fifty years but for Ian and Beverley Whiting, their bond is something that has stood the test of time. The pair married at Horsham’s Lutheran Church on November 8, 1975, having fallen in love after meeting at a dance in Great Western.
“She was a nursing sister in Stawell back then,” said Ian.
“I joined the railways in ’72, I was what they called a fireman back then, I got through for driving in ’77.”
“We met, we fell in love, end of story,” he said with a laugh.
The Whitings are familiar faces to Tobin Street residents, having lived there since 1976, and welcoming their children not long after moving in.
“Heath was born in ’76 and Haylee in ’77,” Ian said.
When asked what the key to making a marriage last for half-a-century, Ian said with certainty, love.
“We’ve both loved each other for those fifty years,” he said.
“You know, we’ve had our ups-and-downs like everybody else but most people nowadays are too quick to end it and say see-ya later.”
Ian decided he wanted to surprise his dear wife by sneaking a wedding photo out of the photo album up to The Ararat Advocate office to acknowledge the significant milestone.
“She goes for a walk every morning,” he said with a smile about his window of opportunity for the sneaky kind gesture.