Couple’s 80-year love story ends
Kenneth “Bill” Phare met his future wife Barbara during war
For almost 80 years, they were together — falling in love during World War II, travelling across the world and raising a family. So it seemed fitting, albeit sad, when 96-year-old Kenneth “Bill” Phare slipped away quietly on Sunday, January 24, three days after the death of beloved wife, Barbara, 94.
The couple, of Papakura, had lived in the area most of their lives after arriving from the UK with their then two young children, John and Janet, in 1963.
Speaking to the Herald, daughter Janet Phare described the moment she told her father that her mother had died.
“Mum was really unwell the last little while and she actually went into a rest home for three days [before] she died.
“When I told him, he said: ‘ Well done, her!’ I think he stayed around, to some extent, to help me look after Mum.”
The couple met just after World War II broke out and Barbara — like many other children in London at the time — was evacuated to a village in Devon, a county in southwest England, to stay safe.
“The story goes that she and a friend were going down the road one day and she saw my father and said to her friend: ‘ I’m going to marry him one day’. She was 14 and he was 16 at the time.”
By 1943, they were engaged — but Bill had received the call-up to go to war.
His first day of combat was June 6, 1944 — D-Day.
“He had a dreadful time as a foot soldier. I can’t remember which beach he landed on, but June 6 was a day he always remembered each year sadly.
“He said to me once: ‘Apart from the war, it has been a wonderful life’.”
The Phares always lived in and around Papakura, and the couple — particularly Barbara, a talented pianist — had a keen interest in music and theatre.
The couple were clerical workers all their working lives, with Bill employed at the Ardmore Filter Station for about 20 years.
“They enjoyed the theatre and travelling around New Zealand. That was what they loved,” Janet said.
In keeping with the family’s wishes, no funeral was held.
The couple were to be cremated and their ashes scattered somewhere significant to them.
As for Janet, who has been her parents’ full-time carer for more than 10 years, she is also moving on.
“I now have no other ties to Papakura, so I’ll travel around New Zealand and look for a small town to live in. When you think about it, we’re all starting a new adventure, depending on what you believe in.”