Love story: 40 years later, a crush turns serious

As love stories go, Bill Bartlett and Zettalee Rollins’ is fairly new – the couple have only been together three months. But this is a tale that’s been 40 years in the making.

Zettalee first saw Bill in 1976 at a high school pep rally in tiny St. Ignatius, Montana.

“Who is THAT?” she asked a friend, thinking a hot new guy had transferred to their school.

“That’s Mr. Bartlett, the new science teacher,” her friend replied.

Her disappointment at his unavailability didn’t dampen her interest. Though she didn’t take any science classes, she still found reason to see him on a regular basis.

“I took a lot of shop classes my senior year and that took me right by his classroom,” she said. “I’d stand in the doorway and watch him. If he saw me he’d say ‘Hi’ and sometimes wave.”

In their Spokane Valley home, Bill smiled at her. “That’s my first memory of Zettalee – standing in the doorway,” he said. “She was blond and attractive, but what I really noticed was that very few girls took shop classes.”

A romance was out of the question. Bill, then 26, said his principal made it very clear what would happen if one of the three single teachers on the staff of 12 dated a student.

“He told us if we did anything he didn’t approve of, we’d be gone. No warnings. No second chances.”

Zettalee said, “The love affair was all on my side.”

And besides, she wasn’t staying for long in St. Ignatius. She’d already enlisted in the Army.

“My dad was a career military man,” she said. “He was killed in Vietnam in 1968. My mother killed herself five years later.”

She lived with extended family until she left Montana to serve her three-year enlistment.

Bill grew up in Spokane Valley. Both of his parents were teachers, and after graduating from Washington State University, he taught in Malaysia and Australia before taking the job in St. Ignatius. He fell in love with the area and purchased 12 acres near Zettalee’s family.

“I found a 114-year-old homestead cabin and took it apart log by log, and moved it to my property and put it back together.”

That cabin would one day prove pivotal in their story, but in the meantime busy years ensued.

Zettalee married a fellow soldier, and the military lifestyle constituted many moves. After she completed her enlistment, she trained as a cosmetologist. She spent 35 years in the industry, often owning her own salons. She also had three children.

Bill too, moved frequently, taking teaching jobs in places like Alaska and Mexico before finally returning to Spokane Valley. He retired from the East Valley district after 15 years. He had a brief marriage, and 22 years ago became a father.

He spent as much time as possible at his Montana cabin and became friendly with Zettalee’s family. She knew he visited the area and would ask about him when she spoke with her aunt.

“I’d always say, ‘Tell Mr. Bartlett hi for me,’ ” she said.

Bill shook his head, “But she never did.”

A few months ago, Zettalee, 57, returned to St. Ignatius. She’d been living in North Carolina, but her marriage had ended, her kids were grown, and she wanted to come home.

“Montana and Mission Valley has always been home,” she said.

So in March she returned, staying with her aunt while she decided what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.

“My cousin told me Mr. Bartlett would sometimes loan his cabin out,” Zettalee said. “I needed some solitude to sort things out, so I contacted him via Facebook.”

Bill, 67, was surprised to receive her Facebook friend request.

“I hadn’t seen her in 40 years. I told her she could use the cabin, but warned her it was very rustic – no electricity.”

That initial inquiry spawned a flurry of increasingly flirtatious Facebook messages.

Zettalee stayed in his cabin for a couple nights.

“Seeing his things, smelling his clothes, his pillow – all those memories came flooding back,” she said.

For 10 days they messaged back and forth, catching up on 40 years and discovering a spark of mutual attraction that quickly became a flame. Freed from the student-teacher taboo, their relationship flourished on the internet. Bill didn’t let the complication of a broken computer and no smartphone deter him.

“I had to use library computers,” he said. “I drove back and forth between Liberty Lake and Spokane Valley libraries because there’s a one-hour internet limit. I told her I sacrificed for her!”

He laughed. “We’ve gone over and over those messages and still can’t pinpoint when the tide turned.”

But turn it did, and he grew eager to see her. In July, he told her he’d come to Montana a week from Friday.

“By Tuesday, I asked if I could come over early,” he said.

Their first date was July 19. He picked her up at her aunt’s, and they went to dinner.

“It was wonderful,” Zettalee said.

Bill agreed. “I was just ga-ga!” He laughed. “We still are!”

Indeed, Zettalee said, “He picked me up for the date and never took me home! We’ve been together ever since.”

“I haven’t let her out of my sight,” Bill said.

They’re still learning about each other, finding out what they have in common (a love of growing things) and what they don’t (politics), but the years have softened them and they find great joy in their time together.

“There’s an aura of warmth about her that really counts at this stage of my life,” Bill said. “She’s made my house a home.”

For those who’ve lost hope with happily ever after, Zettalee offers these words: “Don’t give up on love – it finds a way.”