True love never dies for couple who remarried after divorcing 50 years ago
Elsie Dunn, 90, and Leslie Harper, 93, who first wed in 1941 and divorced in 1954, rekindled their romance after not speaking for half a century.
They remarried at Bridlington Registry Office last weekend, seven years after Mr Harper got back in touch with his ex-wife out of the blue in 2004.
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Hide AdThe pair, who now live in Driffield, had wed new partners in the 1960s but Elsie’s husband Peter Dunn died in 2002, and Leslie was widowed when his wife Muriel died two years later.
Mr Harper, who had never got over his first love, asked their only daughter Pauline Goodson, 65, an office worker, for her mother’s phone number.
“He rang our daughter Pauline to ask if she thought I would want to see him,” the newly married Mrs Harper said. “She was all for it but said he better ring up first.
“He came down one day seven years ago and that was it, we’ve been together since.
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Hide Ad“It was wonderful seeing him again, we gelled straight away like we had never been apart. He didn’t look any different, he still has black hair, even if mine has gone grey.
“Just seeing him again made me feel so much younger, it took me back 50 years, we laughed and laughed. I had been so angry with him for so long after we divorced. I destroyed all our wedding photos but he kept his, he kept everything.
“The war altered him and that’s why our first marriage broke down.
“Now things are like they were when we first met, it was like we had never been apart.
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Hide AdJust before Christmas last year, the retired railway foreman asked Elsie to marry him again and bought her a brand new engagement ring.
The retired seamstress added: “I thought it was very romantic to get married again.
“The first time he proposed when he was going into the Forces, but this time he just turned to me and said ‘I’ve got an idea, let’s get married’.
“I thought it would be a lovely idea.”
Pauline, who gave away her mother, said: “Everybody was really happy for them. They’re meant to be together.”