A couple who were forced apart as teenagers because of racism are getting married nearly 40 years later – after reuniting through Facebook.
Penny Umbers, 60 years old, said yesterday that she was moving to the Bahamas to be with Mark Bethel (61).
The 16-year old private schoolgirl fell in love with Mr Bethel when he flew from Nassau (Bahamian capital) to board at Trent College near Nottingham.
They continued their studies at separate universities in London. Miss Umbers was unaware that her father had paid a visit to Mr Bethel.
Penny Umbers, 60 years old, said yesterday that she was moving to the Bahamas to be with Mark Bethel (61).
Claiming that he knew people in high places and would have Mr Bethel’s scholarship revoked, he ordered the travel and tourism management student to end the relationship.
Mr Bethel had also faced similar threats from his own parents – who did not want him courting a white girl.
Facing further pressure from his family, who had withdrawn financial support, he made ‘the hardest decision of my life’.
‘I didn’t have much power. I was 3000 miles away from my home in a foreign land. I was totally dependent on my scholarship,’ he added.
Wilderness years: Penny and Mark in ’70s
Due to coronavirus travel restrictions, the couple was kept apart for 18 more months. But Miss Umbers flew to New Providence island, Bahamas in June to see her childhood sweetheart.
‘I had to make the hardest decision of my life and I had to make it in isolation. It was heartbreaking.’
After being devastated by the breakup, Miss Umbers quit college and later married and divorced twice.
Mr Bethel completed his degree and began to manage hotels around the globe. He and his wife had a disastrous union, but they never forgot their first love.
Over the following decades, Mr Bethel kept searching but couldn’t find her because she had changed her name when she married.
But, at the end of 2019, he found a picture he thought was her on Facebook and messaged, asking: ‘Is this Penny?’
‘And then it was!’ he said.
Due to coronavirus travel restrictions the couple had to be separated for 18 more months. Miss Umbers flew to New Providence island, Bahamas in June to see her childhood sweetheart.
‘There was that feeling of reuniting,’ she said. ‘But it was like we hadn’t changed one iota.’ When she returned earlier this month, Mr Bethel proposed as soon as she stepped off the plane.
The couple has now published a book called Thirty-Nine Years In The Wilderness about their story to raise awareness.
‘I feel like a whole new person,’ said Miss Umbers. ‘I’ve never loved anyone the way I love Mark.’
Mr Bethel added: ‘We have had 39 lost years but we are looking forward to a really great future.’