Bess says Joe had a bald head people often thought he was much older than her.
"People thought it was his daughter playing the piano."
They got married in 1942 Joe wore his army uniform, having been drafted as a cook during the war. Bess says that was the last time he touched a pan.
"He hasn't done any [cooking] since he left," she says with a smile.
The two went through some tough times. After they were married Joe was only making seven pound a week as a farm hand. But the government had just introduced the family benefit and they started receiving ten shillings a week for every child they had.
"That's how I used to dress the kids, with that money."
Beth says it was different back in those days. The woman stayed at home and looked after the kids, while the man went to work.
"You just had a job to do and you just went on and did it."
They had six children in Taranaki but left in 1958 for Whanganui so the kids could go to school. Joe would work as a bus driver and eventually open his own mechanics business.
The two say they never stopped making each other laugh. Bess say that after all these years Joe can still be a tad silly at times.
"More than silly, but I just put up with him I suppose," she teased.
Joe says over the years the two have grown together but they are always learning about each other and changing as they grow.
"Her hearings gone now, that's changed, now I have to shout," he said jokingly.
The two share a keen interested in sport and always make a point of watching the rugby and the tennis together.
Today, 78 years after they meet, the two can boost a total of six children, 16 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Joe says after all these years Bess is still Bessy to him. A nick-name she got given as a baby in 1920.
"She was a big baby and the senior member of the house said she was just like Bessy Bunter from the kids stories."