Love stories: For Kollers, faith has made all the difference

Despite their differing urban/rural backgrounds, Millwood residents Geri and Erv Koller are solid in their views on life, faith and meeting obstacles head-on.

Two bouts of cancer are proof of that.

Erv Koller, a congenial fellow with a quick wit and a love of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, grew up prowling the streets of Pomeroy, Wash., with his twin brother, Marvin. The brothers attended Columbia Basin Community College.

“We spent three times as much money as the other guys in Pomeroy and came home with no grades, but boy, did we have fun,” Erv Koller said with a chuckle.

But something happened along the college route. “I became a Christian,” he said thoughtfully.

“I met this girl, and she told me, ‘You need Christ.’ ” Perplexed, Koller set out to learn what that meant. Despite living in a small town “where the streets roll up at 5,” he knocked on the pastor’s door at 11 p.m.

“Sure enough, he was up. That turned my whole life around. That was a major shift. It changed me so much that my brother, my cousin … well, all the kids I ran with said, ‘There’s something different about you.’ “

Soon after, Koller transferred to Northwest Nazarene College.

In the meantime, Geri, a gracious woman with a becoming smile, was living in San Jose, Calif. At the age of 12, her parents were divorced, leaving the kids with an abusive aunt for a while. Geri says she survived those tumultuous years with “the good solid foundation” of her faith; she laughs about being “drop-kicked” into the Nazarene religion.

Geri arrived at Northwest Nazarene College when Erv Koller was a junior. There, her social life skyrocketed.

“I came from San Jose, where I never dated, and then I was dating every weekend,” she said. “My grades were really bad for the first year. Everyone kept saying, ‘You’re just going for your Mrs. degree.’ ”

Erv spotted Geri in the student center and discovered they both had identical-twin siblings. “I told the guys, ‘Hey, look, there’s two of them.’ I knew her sister was going steady with another guy, so I told them I was going to check this out.”

Cupid’s arrow struck dead center.

“I never dated another girl after that. I’d dated plenty before, so I knew,” Erv said.

“I liked his sense of humor. We laughed a lot together,” Geri said.

The couple dated and became engaged for a year. “After I graduated in June,” Erv said, “I went back to Pomeroy and Geri went to San Jose. We got married on Dec. 11, 1971, in San Jose.”

Building a life together entails change.

“It took some time to get away from ‘the world revolves around me.’ I had a couple of wake-up calls over the years,” Erv Koller said. “One of them was you don’t buy your wife a pressure cooker for her birthday, no matter how nice it is.”

Geri Koller laughed, explaining: “For a month before my birthday, I’d said, ‘Don’t buy me anything practical. I want something frivolous.’ He saw the look on my face when I opened the present.”

“It took years for me to realize everything doesn’t have to make sense,” Erv Koller said. “We’ve had some deaf-mute dinners.”

Despite silent dinners and bad presents, divorce never crossed the Kollers’ minds.

“When you start into a relationship thinking, ‘Well, if this doesn’t work out, we can always do something else,’ it’s doomed,” Erv Koller said. “We’re both of the same faith and basically the same interests.

“Our backgrounds were so different, but we had something in common when we got married that was really solid. For both of us, faith was No. 1,” he said. “That’s gotten us through things that other people may have said, ‘I just can’t take this anymore.’ “

And though strong in faith, the couple doesn’t preach. “It should be an example to people,” Erv Koller said.

In late 2000, Geri Koller was diagnosed with breast cancer. Faith pulled them through the nightmare.

“I made the mistake and went to the test without Erv,” she said. “Then I had to drive home.” She positioned herself on the couch to re-enact her drive home. ” ‘Waaaaa. … I only have a few good years … ,’ ” she cried, pretending to wipe away tears.

After surgery, there was chemotherapy five days a week for approximately seven months. “I knew I’d be OK,” Geri Koller said.

When chemo ended, her dream of riding a motorcycle kicked in. “Life’s too short. Don’t put it off. I say that to everybody. Step out of your comfort zone and get it done.”

Geri Koller got her endorsement and has ridden her Harley since.

“Wasn’t anybody happier than me,” Erv Koller said. “I was just like a kid running around without a diaper.”

To celebrate being cancer-free for seven years, Geri Koller had a custom paint job done on her motorcycle with “Cancer Survivor” painted on the tank.

She’s proud of her survival, but memories remain. “It’s still scary,” she said. “I still think about it all the time.”

Then, last December, faith pulled the couple through another nightmare when Erv Koller was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

“I was at peace with it from day one,” he said. “When you catch it early, it’s treatable. We’re both survivors now.”

The Kollers’ two children and grandchildren have reinforced the couple’s zest for life and belief that “when the opportunity presents itself – whatever it may be, to contribute or go do something – go do it. Don’t put it off. We live by that.”

The pair’s words of advice are simple.

“Find your soulmate,” Geri said.

“Find someone who believes like you do. If you want to be married and stay married, you’d better start there,” Erv said.

Still, there are a few weeds in every marriage garden that even Weed-B-Gon can’t get rid of.

“There’s one thing,” Erv Koller said with a hearty laugh. “After 36 years together, we can hardly watch the same television program.”

“That’s the control freak talking,” Geri Koller said. “He’s got the controller.”

Despite their TV tussles, the Kollers have been there for each other and other people, “whether we wanted it or not,” said Erv.

“I knew he was going to say that,” said Geri.