How we met: Liz and Ray Bedard of San Jose

When Liz Bedard booked herself on a two-week tour of Australia 40 years ago, she wasn’t looking to find a future husband. She certainly didn’t expect to meet a handsome young American who would sweep her off her feet, uproot her from her native Singapore and bring her to his homeland to start a family and a new life.

In 1973, Liz was a 25-year-old nurse, living with her family and proud she had finished a course in midwife training. She was looking forward to some rest, relaxation and adventure, which is why she and a friend chose Australia. It was a country she longed to visit, and after her friend’s plans changed, she decided to go on her own.

But she wouldn’t be alone for long. As she was checking in at the airport, a flight attendant suggested that two Americans on the tour keep an eye on her.

One was Ray Bedard, an office manager for Motorola’s Singapore office. He was good looking and had a mustache, though Liz wasn’t immediately impressed. On the flight to Melbourne, he also seemed standoffish.

But his reserve lightened soon after they arrived in Australia. In Melbourne, their first stop, Liz spent a day shopping with a girlfriend who lived there. When she brought her friend back to her hotel room to have some coffee, the phone rang. It was Ray, inviting himself over.

After about an hour of pleasant chitchat, Liz and Ray escorted the girlfriend friend down to a cab. Liz admits she was wary when Ray followed her back up to her room.

“I was alone in a foreign country,” she says. As it turned out, he was a “gentleman” and asked about her family.

Two rosaries fell out when she reached into her purse to pull out some photos.

“You’re Catholic?” Ray asked. He then revealed something that told Liz she was in safe hands. “My sister is a cloistered Carmelite nun in North Dakota.”

That was the beginning of a romantic adventure in which the two tourists — from opposite sides of the world — became inseparable while visiting the sights of Melbourne and journeying into Australia’s alpine Snowy Mountains.

After a mountain hike, five days into their tour, Ray declared his intentions. “I slipped on a hike. He went to get bandages, cold compresses, and that’s when he said he was going to marry me.”

“Are you sure? I don’t even know you,” was Liz’s response.

He popped the question again over a romantic dinner in Sydney — with a violinist playing in the background.

When he pressed his case once more after they landed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where their tour originated, she finally said yes.

Of course, her friends and family were skeptical that two people from two different cultures could enjoy lasting happiness. Their whirlwind, three-month courtship continued in Singapore, where Ray’s office was on Orchard Road, the same street where Liz lived. Ray showed his devotion by bringing roses and carnations to Liz and her mother almost every day. The two married in January 1974, and a year later, Liz gave birth to the first of their four children. Ray’s job also transferred him back to the United States. The couple eventually settled in San Jose in 1977, and they have been here since, celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary on Jan. 14.

For their 25th anniversary, they retraced their romantic tour of Australia. They took along a daughter, warning her that it’s usually not such a good idea to meet someone on vacation and decide to get married.

“Don’t do what your father and I did,” Liz told her.

Although of course for them, it worked out. Says Liz:

“It was a match made in heaven.”

— Martha Ross, Staff

If you want to share the story of how you and your partner or best friend met, send an email to mross@bayareanewsgroup.com with the subject line “how we met.”

How we met: Liz and Ray Bedard of San Jose