Couple married for 69 years share secret to a successful marriage

By Brandon Rowe

What’s the secret to a successful marriage? Tony and Henny van Geene from Barrie say it’s important to never go to bed angry at each other.

Tony and Henny met about 70 years ago in Holland after Tony injured his leg during the Second World War and was discharged from the army.

“I met Henny in a dance hall and she was a heck of a good dancer. Everybody wanted to dance with her,” Tony recalls from the night he met his future bride.

The couple dated for a year, got married and now have 14 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. They will be celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary in June, but after suffering similar health scares this year, there was fear they wouldn’t make it to Valentine’s Day.

Both Tony and Henny had similar heart conditions that required them to undergo a procedure called transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAV); it’s a complex procedure in which a new valve is guided into the heart through a small incision in the groin.

In the past, the couple would have undergone a more invasive procedure, which is not safe for elderly patients like the van Geene’s who are both in their nineties.

Thankfully, the operations were successful and the couple is doing fine.

“I hope we can hang in for a couple of years and I think we are going to give it a good try,” Henny said.

The pair are excited to spend another Valentine’s Day together, and are looking forward to what their kids have planed for their 70th anniversary.

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