Elmer couple celebrate 65 years of marriage

Reg and Joyce Came have lived in Elmer since 1981 but their association with the area dates back further.

Joyce, 93, remembers it from the 1930s, when she first went to Elmer Sands, camping with her parents, Hector and Ethel Seager.

She and Reg, 91, grew up in London. They bought a holiday bungalow in Elmer Sands in 1971, opposite Joyce’s parents, then retired to live in Elmer ten years later.

Daughter Dinah Irvine said: “They have put a lot into the community in Elmer, Middleton and Bognor. Reg and Joyce have loved the years they have spent in Elmer Sands, made lifelong friends and have many happy memories of the area.”

Having settled in Elmer full time, Reg and Joyce became involved in lots of different clubs, including the Elmer Sands Boating Club, Aldingbourne Tennis Club and Felpham and Middleton Country Dance Club.

They wrote two short histories – the First Fifty Years of the Elmer Sands Boating Club and the First Sixty Years of the Felpham and Middleton Dancing Club. Reg has also written four books of Reggie’s Rotten Rhymes and two memoirs.

Both are members of the Bognor Regis Local History Society and used to volunteer at the Bognor Regis Museum, when it was in Hotham Park.

Dinah added: “Apart from his career working with BP Chemicals, Reg was a Punch and Judy man, following in the footsteps of his father in law and performing at local fêtes and private parties.”

The couple celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary last Wednesday and received a card from the Queen. The couple have two children, two grandchildren and two great grandchildren.