Enid Alexander once described the 60 years she'd spent with her husband Graham as having gone too quickly.
The 87-year-old Porirua woman died on Monday after a car accident on the steep driveway of the couple's Porirua home.
Alexander was a passenger in the car at the time of the crash and the driver - understood to be her 88-year-old husband - remains in a critical condition in Wellington Hospital.
The couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2016. [File photo]
Investigations into the circumstances are ongoing but "initial indications are the crash was a tragic accident", a police spokeswoman said.
The pair had been married for 63 years and were interviewed by Stuff in 2016 as they prepared to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary.
The celebrations were going to be quiet, a family dinner was planned and the couple shared their tips to a happy marriage.
Enid said the secret was respect and communication, and Graham agreed. "There's no captain on this ship - we're just good mates."
Both originally from Wellington, the couple met at a dance and married less than two years later at the city's Wesley Church during rough weather, Enid said.
"We had a band playing us in and just as we arrived, the heavens opened. It's fair to say the band disbanded in a disorderly fashion."
The newlyweds shifted to Porirua after Graham's family was forced to move because of the Wellington Airport expansion in the 1950s; it was a move the couple didn't regret.
"We feel like we've grown up with Porirua, " Graham said. "There used to be sheep on the hills around here [Mana] and Porirua was just a village.
"It's incredible to see how far it's come and we love it - there's no need for us to go into Wellington because everything we need is right here."
They remembered their street being called "Nappy Valley" by some as their sons Laurie and Neville were among dozens of kids growing up at the same time.
The Alexanders played bowls and danced together, attended Probus and tutored computer classes for Grey Power. Enid once took over Graham's job as credit controller at Farmers in Cuba St and they joined in the store's 100-year celebrations in 2009.
During the 2016 interview, the pair said they wouldn't give up the "million-dollar views" from their home for anything.
The police spokeswoman said their thoughts were with the family and loved ones of Alexander and the injured man.