FIFTY years of marriage is a milestone few couples reach, but for Jim and Jan Runham it is also a celebration
inseparable from the city they have called home for more than five decades.
The couple marked their golden wedding anniversary last Saturday, reflecting on a life shaped by service, resilience and an unwavering commitment to Ipswich and its people.
Jim and Jan’s story began in 1973. Jim was an apprentice fitter, turner and welder, balancing long workdays with service in the Army Reserve.
Jan had recently moved from Roma and was settling into Ipswich, working at the Redbank Woollen Mills – one of the city’s industrial heartbeats at the time.
They met through church, youth group and roller skating, in a close-knit Ipswich where people gathered often and looked out for one another. That shared sense of responsibility emerged early and would go on to define their lives together.
When floods struck Ipswich in 1974, Jim and Jan volunteered without hesitation. Helping others was never about recognition; it was simply what needed to be done. Service quickly became embedded in their lives.
Later that year, Jim proposed while driving across the Bremer River Bridge. They became engaged in January 1975, bought their first home in Churchill, and were married on January 17, 1976 – laying down roots in a city that would remain their constant through both joy and hardship.
Their first son, Richard, was born in 1979. Two years later, second son Sam arrived – and life changed dramatically.
Sam’s early years were marked by medical emergencies, seizures and grim prognoses.
At one point, doctors told Jim and Jan there was only a 15 per cent chance Sam would survive open-heart surgery.
Jim worked during the day and spent his nights at the hospital. Jan became Sam’s fiercest advocate, learning everything she could and refusing to accept limits placed on her son.
When advised to place Sam into institutional care, the couple said no. Their family belonged together – and Ipswich was home.
Jim’s most public act of courage came on November 9, 1993, when he witnessed an armed robbery outside the First Provincial Building Society in Ipswich. He pursued the offender into a nearby alley, where the gunman fired at him at close range.
A ricochet fragment struck Jim in the knee, yet he continued the pursuit until the offender fled.
Despite threats against his family, Jim later assisted police and gave evidence at trial. For his actions, he was awarded the Star of Courage, one of Australia’s highest civilian bravery honours.
Service remained a constant. Jim devoted decades to the Queensland Rural Fire Service, earning the Australian Fire Service Medal and recognition during the 2010-2011 floods.
Together, Jim and Jan also co-founded Ipswich Respite Care Services, later known as ALARA, supporting families raising children with disabilities – a cause born from their own lived experience.
After 50 years of marriage, Jim and Jan Runham’s anniversary is more than a personal milestone.
It is a celebration of a partnership that has helped shape Ipswich – through floods and fires, hospitals and community halls – and a reminder that the strongest legacies are built quietly, over a lifetime of showing up.
