The couple were married on October 5, 1957 at the Church of England in Gunnedah and in a rare event, the whole of the wedding party came together for the recent diamond anniversary.

Kevin Maxwell John Small, better known as Max, is the eldest child of John and Louise Small, with siblings Shirley (Hodges), Darryl, Carmen (McFarland) and John.

Max was born in Narrabri and attended the Narrabri Public School until the family moved to Gunnedah. He worked for John and Mavis Knight on their farm “Rosedale” on the Quia Road, from the age of 11.

Doreen Joyce Croft was born in Boggabri to Herb and Hilda Croft. Her siblings were Beryl (Collyer), Len (deceased) and Ron.

The Crofts moved to Premer during World War II and Herb worked in the saw mill. The family moved to Gunnedah when Doreen was six.

Doreen attended the Gunnedah Infants/Primary School in Elgin Street and Gunnedah High School. When she left school, Doreen took on the role of dental nurse with dentist Tom Boshier. She also worked as an usherette at the Civic Theatre in Conadilly Street and the Namoi Valley Independent in photography production.

Max and Doreen met through the Church of England youth group in 1954, when Max was almost 18-years-old and Doreen was 16 years of age.

They were sitting in the church choir seats, boys on one side, girls on the other, and Max tried to get Doreen’s attention across the aisle.

“I was mouthing something to her and it got the best of her and she had to ask me [what I was saying],” Max said.

“She said, ‘What were you trying to tell me?’, and I said, ‘I’ll tell you when I’m walking you home’.”

Doreen recalls an earlier interaction in which Max made his interest obvious.

“When Royce Bartlett was walking me home, Max and his two mates came into town with his beat-up old Chev ute and they followed us all the way back to my home,” Doreen said.

Max said his ute wasn’t registered and the local police kept an eye on him.

“I used to ask him how he got into town [from “Rosedale”] and he’d say ‘a helicopter’,” Doreen said.

The pair both enjoyed the outdoors and spent a lot of time out and about. Doreen said George McDonagh’s parents owned a property out on the Tamworth Road and one side of the property was on the river.

“They had a couple of rowboats and we used to go out for picnics and the like,” Doreen said.

Doreen and Max became engaged on May 3, 1957 and purchased an engagement ring in Tamworth. Five months later they were married.

“I had a 1951 Dodge ute – a grey one – and it had a canopy on the back and that was what we were going to take on our honeymoon,” Max said.

Max said when they left the Royal Hotel in Tamworth the day after the wedding, they made an unexpected discovery – Doreen’s aunt had written ‘Just married’ on the side of the ute and the dyes from the confetti had run into the duco, ingraining the message.

“Every time you’d pull up, especially in Tamworth, everyone would look at us,” Max said.

The pair headed up the coast, camping in the back of the ute on beaches. They still enjoy the outdoors, now exploring in their motor home.

After returning from their honeymoon, the Smalls set-up house in Gunnedah for a few years before moving to “Merrigal” on Prairies Lane at Kelvin. Max did share-farming and shearing, which he continued when they later moved to “Bald Hill”. They lived without electricity for several years until they bought their farm “Denison” on the Boggabri Road in 1963. They ran cattle and Max continued shearing.

Max and Doreen owned and operated their own business, North West Tractor Wreckers on Martin Road from 1983. They also operated Gunnedah Farm Equipment on Mullaley Road in the late 80s. 

The couple moved to Gunnedah in 1985, settling into a house in Bloomfield Street, which Doreen’s father had built in 1946. In 2001, they shifted to their current home in Scobie Street.

Over the years, Doreen and Max raised four children – Tracey (Davidson), Trevor, Kellie and Carissa (Armstrong).

Max and Carissa shared a love of horses and attended many shows and events across the North West. Max volunteers with Riding for the Disabled and is the current president. He has been a member of the Manchester Unity Lodge since 2013. 

The local has always been interested in sport and played rugby league for Gunnedah in his youth. He was a member of the Gunnedah Darts League for 50 years and served as president for 20 years. 

Doreen has always had a great love of music and continues to play the organ at the Gunnedah Anglican Church each week. She also taught the organ and piano to adults and children for a number of years.

She was an early member of the Dominos band with Bill Syphers and Barry Horder. The band played at local dances and functions during the 1960 and 1970s; their first function was at the Boggabri Golf Club.

Doreen and Max continue to provide musical entertainment together, playing for residents of Mackellar Care Services once a month.

As Doreen and Max look back over their 60 years together, they have plenty they are grateful for.

“I think, like all marriages, we’ve had our ups and downs, but we’re still together and enjoy life,” Max said.

“We’ve got four lovely kids and four lovely grandchildren.”

Despite the passing of youth, Doreen said they can still do life side-by-side.

“We often sit there and watch tellie after lunch and we say, ‘How lucky can you be to still be able to hear and do the things you like to do?” Doreen said.​