Greg and Margaret Dean celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last month. Visitors to the island since the 1940s, the couple moved here permanently in 1983.
Greg and Margaret Dean were married in Traralgon on October 24, 1953 and recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.
Island stalwarts Margaret and Greg Dean celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary last month.
The couple first met in Italy and again in Traralgon where they married on October 24, 1953.
Raising four children and living in Queensland and South Australia before moving back to Victoria, they spent every summer for 20 years holidaying on Phillip Island.
Both had separately visited Phillip Island in the 1940s and in 1983 became permanent residents.
Daughters Helen and Cathy said their parents created Ventnor Heights Nursery, specialising in indigenous coastal plants, transforming “a bald, overgrazed hill into a bushland oasis”.
“The nursery was a hub for new learning and appreciation of the beauty and diversity of coastal plants and all the unique birds and animals they nurture,” Cathy and Helen said.
“It attracted many locals and visitors to the island including the much-loved John Clarke and Bryan Dawe as regular customers.
“Supplying plants for the revegetation of the cliff tops of the Nobbies and Penguin Parade, Phillip Island golf course, roadsides, farms and gardens across the island and beyond are legacies of their efforts on the ground.
“There are many locals who recall visiting the nursery and Maggie and Greg’s glorious garden when they were children.”
Within community, Maggie and Greg connected people, supporting enterprises and endeavours for the betterment of island life.
“They were founding members of Land Care, delivered Meals on Wheels into their 80s, fought long and hard to retain Warley Hospital with its vital health services, willingly joined multiple fundraising drives and lent their expertise and resources to many worthy causes,” said their daughters.
“On Sundays the van was loaded up with plants which our father sold at the Cowes Market where he was not only a stall holder but also a great source of information and advice.”
Both were members of the Cowes Golf Club for decades and Maggie, now 96 years young, still plays croquet.”
The couple have 12 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren who have inherited their love of Phillip Island plus Maggie and Greg’s passion for building strong, resilient families and communities.
“What an honour to celebrate such an awe-inspiring milestone in the long and productive marriage of these two amazing individuals,” said Cathy and Helen proudly.
