Together 71 years, Wally and Grace Libby have had ‘great life’

“We slept three in the bed on our wedding night,” 90-year-old Grace Libby said with a giggle.

Wally Libby looked at his wife of 71 years and grinned as the Mariners baseball game droned in the background of their comfortable retirement apartment in Spokane Valley.

Grace and Wally met on a blind date. After going together for two years, they decided to get married on Aug. 10, 1935, at her parents’ home.

“We couldn’t wait any longer,” Grace Libby said. She cupped her hand over her mouth and whispered, “Don’t tell anyone, but I was only 18 and he was 21.”

As a wedding gift, the couple received a night’s lodging in a hotel. “There was only a bed in the rooms then – nothing else,” Grace Libby said.

“They used to shivaree (a mock serenade with kettles, horns, etc., to a couple on their wedding night), and our friends came over with us to celebrate. They were tired and decided not to drive back to Coeur d’Alene. So he slept in the car, and his girlfriend slept in the bed with us.”

It’s true: The age of innocence had its risqué moments.

Over the years, the Libbys had three children, nine grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and 16 great-great-grandchildren.

“We make room for everyone,” Grace Libby said, “even though they’re scattered across the country.”

The one thing the Libbys loved as much as each other was square dancing.

“We started square dancing shortly after we met,” Grace Libby said. Their square dancing hall of fame includes awards, badges and pictures. The couple square-danced at the 1974 World’s Fair in Spokane.

But Wally Libby broke his hip five years ago, and the couple’s dancing days came to end.

“I sure do miss it,” Grace Libby said.

Like many people during the Great Depression, Wally and Grace Libby had very little when they got married. They rented a house in Coeur d’Alene, and Wally Libby scoured the area looking for work.

“I’d work for a dollar a day doing whatever came up,” he said.

One of those jobs was for Peter J. Young and Sons, a small construction company. Wally Libby worked his way up to foreman and spent 20 years on the road, building homes and large stores throughout central and Eastern Washington.

The Libbys bought their first home for $4,900. Soon, they were able to build their own home on Spokane’s North Side.

“I miss the North Side,” Grace Libby said, “but the place just got too much for us to do.”

The Libbys also have done volunteer work for the food bank and in their church, Whitworth Presbyterian.

Grace Libby worked hard as a wife and mother to the couple’s three children.

The Libbys’ oldest child lives in Arizona, where she successfully raised five children as a single parent. Their second child was owner of Rainbow Electric and is retired. Their third child, who arrived 14 years after the second one, is a Spokane firefighter.

“We were surprised,” Grace Libby said, “but we just accepted it. Whatever will be will be, as they say. The other two kids were old enough to help out, too.”

The Libbys have enjoyed traveling to 49 states in their travel trailer, but their most memorable time was when friends had a lodge in Alaska and invited them to help run the business.

The Libbys stayed there for two years.

“We went there in 1941 with two little kids, a dog and a pickup truck, and we traveled the Alcan (Alaska Highway),” Grace Libby said with a smile as she reminisced. The trek to Alaska took 11 days.

“It was an adventure, but it was wonderful. We loved Alaska. The view of Mount McKinley is spectacular,” she said.

So spectacular that she wrote a poem about climbing the mountain. In 1991, Grace Libby was asked to attend a poetry contest in New York based on that poem.

“I didn’t win,” she said, “but it was really something to go there.”

A picture of Mount McKinley along with her poem hangs on the apartment wall.

The couple has seen tough times, but “when you hit hard times, you just keep going,” Wally Libby said. “You live from day to day.”

Taking “care of your wife and your home” are his recipes for success, he said.

“You learn to forget,” his wife said. “He’s a pretty good guy. I taught him well.”

“We’ve had a good life – a great life,” Grace Libby said with a smile. “Nothing exciting, but we’ve enjoyed it.”