Guinness World Records has named a couple in Austin, Texas, as the world’s oldest living couple. John Henderson, 106, and Charlotte, 105, have a combined age of 211 years and are set to celebrate their 80th wedding anniversary on December 22
John and Charlotte married in a tiny ceremony with only two guests present on Dec. 22, 1939 and during their honeymoon in San Antonio, they stayed at a hotel that cost $7 a night.
Even though they known each other for 85 years, they have been married only for 80, meaning the record for the longest marriage according to Guinness World Records, belongs to Zelmyra and Herbert Fisher, who wed at the ages of 17 and 19, respectively, and were married for 86 years and 290 days before Herbert’s death in 2011.
Speaking to Washington post on Sunday, John Henderson said;
“it took her five years to make up her mind that she wanted to get married,”
Speaking about the first time he got a radio, John said;
“And I well-remember that long antenna. They had to put it up from the front yard to the backyard to receive a radio show,”
he said.
He recalls renting a room while in the University of Texas in the early 1930s across the street from the Gregory Gym, one of the few historical buildings remaining on the campus.
“The neighbors next door had a cow and chickens. You can imagine today a cow and chicken house across the street from Gregory, where the campus is so large now you wouldn’t recognize hardly anything,” John said.
“I thought he was just a fine fella, and I didn’t mind his looking over my shoulder,” Charlotte told The Washington Post, remembering the first time she saw John in a Zoology class in front of John while he made passes at her.
The pair have been lauded by many for their long, milestone-filled life together.
