When Rohan Fraser and Patsy Allen attended Mrs Hamilton’s pre-school at the end of 7th Avenue in 1964 they could never have imagined that they would one day become husband and wife.
The right brand of guava juice, bought by Rohan for Patsy at a sporting event, is what sealed the deal for her.
After pre-school, Rohan attended Fish Hoek Primary while Patsy attended St Imelda’s at the top of 5th Avenue and later Star of the Sea.
She said her father, Terry Allen, an auditor in Fish Hoek for many years, had done the books for Rohan’s grandparents’ business so their parents knew each other on a business level but did not socialise.
“Obviously at the ages of 5 and 6 we didn’t know much about our parents’ business,” she said.
When Patsy was in Grade 4, then known as Standard 2, she changed schools and went to Fish Hoek Primary School.
She and Rohan were now in the same grade but never moved in the same social circles.
However, Patsy knew exactly who Rohan was.
“He was a sports jock and won lots of trophies,” she said.
Patsy remembers the day they finally spoke to each other like it was yesterday – it was February 22, 1978, and they were in matric at Fish Hoek High School at a sports day. They were both walking from the main building down to the lower sports fields.
“He said he was about to compete in the javelin throwing and invited me to go watch, and so I did,” she said.
Patsy said afterwards he had asked his mother for money to buy them some juice.
“I was very fussy about which juice I drank, but he came back with the right brand of guava juice, and the rest is history,” she said.
The couple married in August 1980 and have two children, Shaun and Shelly and one grandchild.
Both children attended Fish Hoek High School and Shaun matriculated in 1999 and Shelly in 2000.
Rohan and Patsy still live in Fish
Hoek..
