Edric and Joyce Pearman just might be the oldest married couple in Bermuda.

Even if they aren’t, their 74 years together certainly gives them bragging rights.

Mr Pearman, 98, and Mrs Pearman, 94, were childhood sweethearts. They married on July 23, 1940.

“I was 24 when we got married,” said Mr Pearman, who was then a petty officer in the British Navy.

“I got a three-day pass to get married. I came home and expected to have a honeymoon but at 11am the next day there was a banging on my door and they told me I had to come back to work because I was the only one who could navigate a tugboat.

“My honeymoon was over. I didn’t see her for three days after that.”

Allan and Mildred Hunt’s organisation, Heart-to-Heart Marriage Mentoring Ministries, this week presented the couple with a plaque for their years of commitment.

They were recognised after Gina Spence launched a search for the Island’s oldest married couple on her radio talk show.

The award presentation, which took place during International Marriage Week, also honoured four other couples for their long unions — Harry and Beryl Broadley (71 years), Edmund and Barbara Lambert (67 years), Quintin and Clara Williams (65 years) and Edward and Lois Smith (62 years).

St George’s residents Mr and Mrs Pearman met in primary school.

“We went to school at East End so we came up together from babies,” Mr Pearman said.

“My wife was a great swimmer and so we would go out in my boat sailing and then go for a swim. I’ve been going with her all my adult life. I didn’t think we’d be married so long.”

Mrs Pearman said her husband “didn’t do anything special” when he asked for her hand in marriage.

“He was so sure of me,” she said. “He always talked about getting married and I thought that was great.

“We were always close. We never mingled with things that were too much to handle.”

They had eight children in the years that followed — Shirley Blakeney, Aleathea Rabain, Constance Simmons, Irene Paynter and Joanne, Christine, Michael and Kenneth Pearman.

“We had six beautiful daughters, one after the other,” Mr Pearman said. “I thought we’d never have a boy and then my father said if I could make a boy he’d give me £100. I then had two wonderful boys, but I never got the money.”

Mr Pearman worked in the hospitality industry from the age of 15. He started as a bellhop at Bermudiana Hotel and then joined Castle Harbour. He drove taxis for 20 years before becoming a charter fisherman, taking tourists out to sea.

“I’ve done it all. I’ve had a very adventurous life,” he said.

The couple gave different reasons for their successful marriage.

Mrs Pearman said she was certain her husband would say his “great dancing” had something to do with it.

“I don’t know how great he was. Half the time I wasn’t dancing with him.

“But I needed lots of patience. Girls were always after him. He was a really handsome guy. Girls were always coming around and trying to get friendly with him, especially at dances.”

According to Mr Pearman, it helped their marriage that he was a “great talker”, had a good sense of humour and “does all the cooking”.

“Maybe I out-talked my wife,” he joked. “She keeps her mouth shut. When I went dancing with girls she’d get mad and I’d go for a walk or a drive and calm down.

“By the time I got back she usually wasn’t angry any more.

“But I’m a great joker. I know more jokes than Carter’s got liver pills.*

“And I cooked the whole Christmas dinner. I’m a masterpiece on pawpaw casserole. A lot of people call me for the recipe.”

The couple say they are fortunate to have their health, although Mr Pearman once lost his eyesight for six months after a botched operation.

* Carter’s Little Liver Pills was a very popular medicine from the 1800s through the 1960s. Their success gave birth to a common saying: “He/She has more _________ than Carter has Little Liver Pills.”