Love Story: Romance got rolling on blind date at rink

Gordon Van Leuven wasn’t a fan of blind dates, but in 1945 a night at a local roller rink changed his mind.

The Mead High School senior didn’t have much time for fun. He and his mother ran the family farm alone. His father had died when Gordon was 3, his brother Bruce was serving in World War II and his other siblings were grown and gone.

When a buddy called and offered to fix him up with a girl so they could double date, Gordon declined.

“I don’t do blind dates,” he said.

His friend persisted, luring him out with the promise of a fun evening of skating at Cook’s Roller Rink (now Pattison’s).

When he met his date, he wished he’d just stayed home. She was a tiny thing and Gordon, 6-foot-6, towered over her. He had to stoop down to get his arm around her waist.

The evening was saved when Shirley Jolly, his buddy’s date, felt sorry for him and asked him to skate.

Gordon had already noticed her. He whistled at the memory, miming an hourglass shape with his hands.

“All the girls who were gutsy wore short skirts with tights,” Shirley explained.

And Shirley was a gutsy girl.

When Gordon found out she and his buddy weren’t going steady, he quickly moved in.

“From that time on we never dated anybody else,” Shirley said.

But bringing her home to the farm proved embarrassing for Gordon.

“We had named several milk cows after our girlfriends,” he said.

“I’d say, ‘Here, Shirley,’ and she say, ‘You talking to me?’ and I’d say, ‘No, I’m calling the cow!’ ”

He graduated from Mead High School in 1946. Shirley, two years his junior, attended Rogers, and on the night of her senior prom Gordon gave her an engagement ring.

“I just knew he loved me and I loved him,” she said.

Gordon’s mother worried about the pending nuptials because Gordon provided the sole manpower on the farm. Then his brother returned from the war. Though physically unharmed, the experience left him profoundly shaken.

“He was in bad shape,” Gordon said. “He’d sit by the barn and cry like a baby. His nerves were shot.”

Gordon believed running the farm would help his brother heal, so he handed over daily operations and took a job with Inland Empire Refineries.

“We never thought about college,” he said. “The farm was mortgaged to the hilt because of Dad’s death.”

Shirley graduated in 1947 and on Aug. 29, 1948, the couple married. Gordon had spent the day helping his brother put 1,000 bales of hay in the barn.

They honeymooned at Priest Lake, enjoying the outdoors, even though one morning a black bear was shot just outside their cabin.

“I posed for a picture with the bear, holding up its ears!” Shirley said.

Their honeymoon ended on a sad note when, near the end of their two-week stay, a little girl from a neighboring cabin disappeared. Gordon joined the search and found the 3-year-old in the water off a nearby dock.

“I worked so hard to save her,” he said. “But she didn’t survive. I told Shirley, the honeymoon is over.”

They returned home to a little house in Hillyard they’d purchased for $3,700.

Their home wasn’t quite as they’d left it. Shirley’s practical joker parents had dismantled their bed and set it up on blocks in the kitchen.

“We had to take it apart and put it back together again,” Gordon said.

He’d taken a job at Cummins Diesel, and Shirley was working at Kaiser, when the draft board came calling. Gordon was inducted into the U.S. Marine Corps and departed for basic training, leaving Shirley, then six months pregnant, behind.

Their son, Doug, arrived in December 1952. He met his dad six weeks later, when Gordon came to move his family to California, where he’d been stationed.

After his two years of service were complete, they returned to Spokane and bought some land at Davis Lake.

Armed with a book titled “Your Dream Home: How to Build it for Less Than $3,500,” Gordon built the cabin where they’d spend many happy summers.

“I worked my tail off,” he said.

Shirley originally told him she didn’t want running water or electricity in the cabin, but she changed her mind. She’s glad she did because their family soon grew with the adoption of two daughters; Diana in 1965 and Darlene in 1967.

“It was a godsend,” she said of the cabin. “That’s where I raised our son and daughters. That’s where I taught them what life was about. Every weekend, every chance we get, we spend at the lake.”

She felt fortunate to be able to stay home with their children.

“I didn’t want to miss a thing,” she said.

Gordon had risen to the rank of vice president with Cummins, but had always wanted to own his own business. In 1983 they purchased a Freightliner dealership with a partner. A year later they bought the partner out and Gordon ran the business until they sold it in 1994.

Their retirement years have been filled with travel, including nine cruises. They’re still basking in memories of their 2015 Alaska cruise hosted by musician Bill Gaither.

“I want to do it again,” Shirley said.

They also belonged to the Holiday Ramblers RV Club. Gordon, an accomplished organist, often provided the music for the club’s events.

As the couple, both cancer survivors, looked ahead to their 68th anniversary in August, they pondered the reasons their union has endured.

“The word ‘threats’ comes to mind,” said Gordon, laughing.

Shirley rattled off a list of her husband’s accomplishments.

“He’s smarter than a lot of college-educated folks I know.”

Perhaps part of that smartness was saying yes to a blind date so many years ago.

Gordon said he often tells his bride, “You’re my best friend, my partner, my teammate and sweetheart.”

“I don’t think we’ve missed out on anything,” Shirley said.

Then she laughed. “Except maybe Bill Gaither cruise No. 2.”