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Roma and David Leishman have a lifetime of stories considering they’ve been married for 74 years.
David was stationed at an air force base in Scotland then in India. On leave at a friend's home in England, he met Roma.
“When I saw her, I said to myself, this is the woman I’m going to marry,” said David.
“He phoned me that night to ask me if I would be his girlfriend. I thought that was weird, I had just met the guy through my brother and he’s asking me to be his girlfriend, he’s crazy. I pretended I couldn’t hear what he was saying because I didn’t know how to respond,” said Roma.
When he proposed to her he didn’t get down on one knee. Everything was rationed at the time so it was difficult to get a ring. When they found one, she saved it for David to put on her. “When he put it on, he slapped me on the back and said ‘there you are old girl,’” said Roma.
They married on March 29, 1948. David is now 101 and Roma 96.
David wakes up and makes them both breakfast every morning. He only started because when his wife was in the hospital and he couldn’t find where the bread was.
“She tolerates my shortcomings,” said David. “And he tolerates mine,” adds Roma.
The couple has two children, five grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.
Their wedding was at the house of Roma’s parents.
“My father wasn’t very cooperative about the wedding at all because he didn’t think I should marry a Scot. He had me in tears before I went to the wedding,” she said.
Everything was rationed and it was difficult to get anything. It was hard to get flowers but a friend of her mother’s brought a bouquet although she said she didn’t like it.
The Leishmans' first child, Karen, had problems with asthma attacks in her early years. There was more advancement for asthma treatments in North America at the time, they said, so David found a job in Hamilton at the Provincial Institute of Textiles. The family moved to Canada from Britain in 1953.
They had to take Karen straight to the hospital from the train because she was unconscious from an asthma attack. The doctors told them she had a 50/50 chance of making it. Luckily, she did.
“It was a horrible introduction to the country,” said Roma. “It was Murphy’s law all the way the first three months.”
When they arrived at a hospital in Windsor they asked if they had money to pay for the bill. They did but it was in Hamilton, so David had to see the major of the hospital and swear on the bible. The hospital also phoned the bank to find out if he was lying or not.
They wouldn’t admit her until they knew they had the money to pay the bill.
The first month they were in Canada they ran out of money. Roma had to figure out what she could cook for dinner. She had flour and butter she turned into a pastry with tomatoes and cheese.
“Looking back I would say 'hey Roma, let’s go home,'” said David.
He would eventually go on to work as registrar at Mohawk College for many years.
The Leishmans' daughter bought a lot in Elora and David was retiring soon so he offered to help build the house. The Leishmans lived there for 12 years because their daughter wasn’t ready to move in yet. When it came time, the Leishmans moved to Guelph when they were building houses by the Guelph Country Club.
“They’ve had a lot of adversity they’ve overcome and they always remained positive and optimistic,” said Emily Simpson, the couple’s granddaughter. “They’re the most kindest, loving, sweetest people.”
David will walk Simpson down the aisle on her wedding day. They will celebrate her wedding and the 74th wedding anniversary.
