Stettler’s Hughie LeBlanc, 86, and Millie LeBlanc, 80 just celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary yesterday, Aug. 30.
It has been a long-lasting marriage with three children, nine grandchildren, and 13 great grandchildren.
When Hughie moved to Calgary from Bellsite, Manitoba in 1952, as a heavy equipment operator building Alberta highways, little did he know that in five years, he would marry the woman of his dreams.
In the winter of 1956, Hughie was operating equipment building the highway at Lake Louise. He would often come to visit his cousin Conrad.
On one such visits, Millie Hovey – who had moved from the farm in Trenville district to Calgary to attend hairdressing school, and was boarding with a young couple, Conrad and Claire LeBlanc – said, ““I came home from work one day and I noticed this guy sitting on the stairs taking off his work boots, I thought, he was just a guy!”
A few days later Hughie called to ask her if she would like to go to a movie. She accepted the invitation, and according to Millie, the romance moved fast.
“Hughie visited me while I was working for a hairdresser in Red Deer and after a date one evening he proposed,” Millie recalled.
On Aug. 30, 1957, they were married in the little church in Lousana, not far from Trenville, where Millie grew up. They built their new home in Calgary where they raised their three children – Wanda, Lawrence, and Wayne.
Millie continued with her hairdressing career and Hughie became a long-haul truck driver and continued in that profession for more than 19 years. He later worked as a heavy equipment operator for Burnco rock products for 26 years. After they both retired they moved to Stettler in 2006 to be closer to family.
Each had their own advice to give on a long-lasting marriage.
“Being on the road all those years, makes your heart miss the one you love,” Hughie said.
For Millie, it was about having certain qualities.
“Being patient and understanding, and admitting when you’re wrong, Millie said. “After being together for all these years you can just read each other.”
