for work , and he could spend more time with our family .”

The Lyons set up home at 60 March Street , Richmond , and young Ken continued his education at Richmond Rural School .

“ My ambition after leaving school was to become a fitter and turner with NSW Railway but at my interview , they discovered I was colour blind which ruled me out of a job where deciphering coloured signals was a prerequisite ,” Ken said .

So , in 1945 , he began his apprenticeship as a compositor with the Hawkesbury Gazette – an association which lasted until his retirement 1986 .

As previously mentioned , those apprenticeship years were tumultuous .

As he commenced his final year as an apprentice , the composite room foreman , Harry McCudden , decided to return to his roots in the Riverina and the Gazette owner , Max Day , was impressed enough with Ken ’ s skills and work ethic , to offer him the position .

“ I was hesitant in accepting the role , but Max gave me an assurance that he was confident in me making a good fist of it ,” Ken said .

“ I ’ ll never , ever forget my first pay day as the foreman – Max handed me my brown pay envelope and inside was a bonus .

“ That bonus and the praise Max gave me at the end of that first week were just what I needed to boost my

self-confidence .” During those apprenticeship years , the moneywise Ken was able to purchase outright a block of land in Bourke Street , and his gentlemanly behaviour earned him the love of his life .

“ I regularly attended the Tuesday and Thursday night ballroom dancing at the Blue Danube Dance Hall , further down the road from us in March Street ,” Ken explained .

“ Despite the war ending , there were still lots of servicemen in the area – the navy had personnel at HMAS Nirimba ( Quakers Hill ), army units were still living in tents at Hawkesbury Racecourse , there was airmen at Richmond RAAF and paratroopers were stationed at Scheyville .

“ Many of them converged on Richmond for the dances and I gave myself the job of escorting home four of the girls also living in March Street ,” Ken said .

“ Normally , Beryl Williams was the second last of the girls I bid goodnight to but one evening , she said she would walk with me to the last girl ’ s house and then I could escort her back home . “ We were chatting as we were walking back up March Street when we noticed three navy blokes coming in the opposite direction , so we held hands to give them the impression we were a couple .

“ The trio passed us without any problems and when we arrived at

Beryl ’ s house , we continued holding hands , had a chaste goodnight kiss and , boy-oh-boy , I was hooked !”

The young lovers courted for a year , had a year-long engagement and at 21 years of age , Ken married his beloved Beryl at St Peters Anglican Church , Richmond .

Not long after , they moved into their new home on the block Ken had purchased three years earlier during his apprenticeship .

They became proud parents of Brendan , who followed his father into the printing game – Brendan is the proprietor of CB Printing at Richmond - and Maxine , who sadly passed away in 2010 .

Ken and Beryl had 65 years of wedded bliss before Beryl passed away in 2015 .

Ken is the devoted and proud grandfather to five and great grandfather to another five children .

I asked Ken did he ever find time during his working life to pursue other interests – other than Beryl , of course !

“ In our mid-20s , Beryl and I both became ardent tennis players after learning to play at a nearby tennis court , just a lob away from our home ,” Ken replied .

“ Back in those days , just about everyone played tennis – there were courts all over the place – and the competitions within the Hawkesbury District Tennis Association were always hard fought .

Ken Lyons walked the walk , talked the talk and ended up marrying the love of his life , Beryl , at St Peters Anglican Church , Richmond .

“ I managed to reach the second tier AI grade but really , my greatest love was throwing in a fishing line .

“ Beryl and I had a holiday place for many years at Blue Bay near Long Jetty and I ’ d love nothing better than hoisting the ‘ gone fishin ’ sign .”

During his angler days , Ken Lyons caught his fair share of fish but for this remarkable man , his biggest catch was way back in 1949 when he landed the heart of Beryl Williams .