SPALDING, Clarendon — The connection formed between young educators Guy Steven Lemonius and Beryl Claire Lashington (now Lemonius) on one rural school ground in the 1960s has flourished into a half a century of togetherness.

A graduate of Bethlehem Teachers’ College, Beryl took up her first position at Albert Town All Age School in South Trelawny.

As fate would have it, within two years of her tenure, Guy, having worked a term at Troy All Age, decided to return to his community of Albert Town and started teaching at his alma mater Albert Town All Age (called Albert Town Elementary when he was a student).

He told the Jamaica Observer recently at their home in Kyle, Spalding that he noticed quite quickly the “petite young lady” and after some amount of persistence in winning her heart “the love grew” and a year and eight months later they became man and wife.

Dating, they explained, involved spending time engaging in group activities … something that was the norm then.

“When we came on the scene (during dating) me couldn’t even walk with her and hold her hand,” Guy Lemonius recalled.

The now retirees have four adult children and six grandchildren and marked their 50th anniversary of marriage on August 1– a day as significant for their union as it is for the country’s history.

The couple said that Emancipation Day was chosen for its significance as it was for the convenience.

“It was an important day — Emancipation,” Guy emphasised while his wife added that the fact that it was a public holiday no special leave from work was required and it was easier for friends and relatives to find the time to attend the wedding.

Combined, the two have spent over 70 years contributing to the development of education in the Jamaican public school system.

With the exception of secondment as an education officer for Guy Lemonius and a break to improve on his Mico Teachers’ College qualification at the University of the West Indies, the couple grew their career side by side.

Following the Albert Town All Age journey they both served at Alps All Age also in Trelawny, Moravia All Age in North East Manchester, Clarksonville All Age in St Ann and then to Bryce All Age again in North East Manchester where Beryl Lemonius retired as vice principal in 1998 and Guy Lemonius as principal in 1999.

“It was always one step up,” said Beryl Lemonius as she explained the move to different schools.

She said that their social life was mainly centered on involvement in activities in the schools of which they were a part, the church and the communities in which they lived.

Beryl Lemonius served in capacities such as president of the Women’s Fellowship and choir member and occasional organist at Bryce United Church where they got married 50 years ago, before they started living in the area.

Her husband is a Justice of the Peace in Manchester and has held positions such as secretary of the Rotary Club of Christiana, lay preacher and president of the Men’s Fellowship at Bryce United Church.

An appreciation function organised by the Bryce All Age (now Primary) school family was held in 2000 for their 38 and 36 years respectively in the education system.

Teaching, they both agree, is a profession that they would still choose if they had to live their lives over again.

Beryl Lemonius knocks wood as she explained that she and her husband had never had a “big” contention in their five decades of marriage.

“Love is not a one day thing. Don’t marry because of what you think (that) you can get out of it, marry because you know you can share your life with someone,” Guy Lemonius advised.