Cape Town couple reflect and celebrate 70 years of everlasting love

Dora Freeman (93), and Benjamin George Freeman (92) have been married for seventy years. Picture: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)

Dora Freeman (93), and Benjamin George Freeman (92) have been married for seventy years. Picture: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)

Published Nov 25, 2020

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Cape Town - A Kraaifontein couple shared that the sweetness of their marriage spanning 70 years is truly felt in their senior years.

Pastor Benjamin George Freeman, 92, and Dora Freeman, 93, are celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary today.

At their Rembrandt Street, Scottsville residence, the giggling pair recalled how they met as singers in different church choirs in 1950.

“I grew up singing and we saw each other at a competition. We were 18 and 19 years. We only made contact with each other when I was 21 and she was 22,” said George.

He said he could remember the exact date of their initial meeting, July 8, 1950, where the pair arranged to meet a few days later at the “Groot Klok” at the Cape Town station, where many new couples would get together.

Dora Freeman (93), and Benjamin George Freeman (92) have been married for seventy years. They met in Vasco at a church choir practice and has been in love ever since. Photographer: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)
Ben said that their marrage wasn’t easy but that meeting Dora was the best thing that ever happened to him. Photographer: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)

Less than four months later they married, on November 25, 1950.

Dora said it was his voice that captivated her all those years ago and had led her to start a conversation with him. At the time, the pair did not believe their marriage would last this long, as it had been a difficult road.

A few months into their marriage, George was struggling with alcohol addiction. It lasted two and a half years, prompting Dora to file for a divorce without his knowledge.

The magistrate advised her to give him six months, and should nothing change, a divorce would be granted.

What drove him to make the necessary change during that time, said George, was that “I had an unhappy woman who was my friend and wife”.

“He converted and accepted the Lord before me, and that’s what brought the change in our lives,” she said.

Photographer: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)
They still live in their home in Kraaifontein for the past forty years. Photographer: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)
Dora Freeman (93), and Benjamin George Freeman (92) have been married for seventy years. Photographer: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)

Dora described her marriage as very successful, in spite of the many trials.

She left school at the age of 13, and both lived in Vasco Estate.

On what her husband has brought to her life, she said, “stability, respect, and the willpower to upgrade and not to stay where we were because we had no money”.

Their family boasts four generations with nine children, 19 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

“Love alone is not enough, love comes with a lot of sacrifices,” said George.

Dora had worked two jobs to make sure her children stayed in school, while her husband struggled while ministering. She said their relationship sustaining this long was due to their relationship with God, allowing them to live comfortably, after facing financial difficulties.

As the years go by, the pair said they spend most of their time alone and in each other’s company, especially in prayer.

Photographer: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)
Dora Freeman (93), and Benjamin George Freeman (92) have been married for seventy years. Photographer: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)
Photographer: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)
Photographer: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)
Photographer: Armand Hough/African News Agency(ANA)

Cape Argus

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