Sweethearts: High school and beyond

Prompted by a reader’s story, The Slice had wondered what happened after high school sweethearts got married.

Here are a few answers.

“My husband (my high school sweetheart) and I were married in 1954 and this year will be celebrating our 62nd wedding anniversary,” wrote Marian Walker. “And they said it wouldn’t last.”

Apparently they were wrong.

“We met when I was 13 and he was 15,” wrote Loretta Spence. “Were married four years later in 1954. The love of my life for 61 years.”

That must have been a good year.

“My husband, Dave, and I were high school sweethearts,” wrote Sue Teague. “We met in April 1974. He was a senior and I was a sophomore. We dated for three years and married in May 1977. Our 39th anniversary is May 21st. Four kids and four grandkids later, he is still my best friend and rock!”

Joe Meyer wrote, “I met my wife Kathi on a blind date my brother set us up on my senior year. This August will be our 47th anniversary, We have two daughters and five grandchildren. It worked out pretty great.”

Donna Potter Phillips wrote, “Hubby John and I will mark anniversary number 55 this year. We did marry right out of high school but he went to Lewis & Clark and I was a North Central girl. But he had a car!”

Fran Bennett Wicht shared this. “My brother and sister-in-law (Lowry Bennett and Dorothy Mae Allen) graduated from North Central High School in 1948 and married in 1950 while both were still teenagers. They both went on to get master’s degrees and will celebrate their 66th wedding anniversary in August. Some high school romances do work out well!”

This is from Joyce Miller. “This September we will be celebrating our 57th wedding anniversary. We met when I was a junior in high school and we were both working at Sacred Heart Hospital. I was a ‘practical nurse,’ as they called us in those days, and Larry worked as an orderly. I wanted to be a nurse and you couldn’t get into the nursing program if you were married. So Larry went into the Air Force and I went to Sacred Heart School of Nursing. We married shortly after graduation and moved to Great Falls, Montana, We have six children, nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren with twin boys due in August. We’ve worked hard to keep our marriage successful.”

Michael Altig wrote, “My wife Beverly and I met in high school in the 50s. If you weren’t paired up (“going steady”) by your sophomore year, you just weren’t normal. We will be married for 54 years in August.”

Bryan Dooley and his wife, Yolanda, actually started dating before high school. “I graduated in 1978 and she graduated a year later (different high schools). I went to college at the Air Force Academy in Colorado and she went to school near our hometown (Los Angeles). And yes, we were able to maintain a long-distance relationship. We were married in 1983 after we both graduated. We will celebrate our 33rd anniversary on June 18th.

Ken and Vada Paulson were high school sweethearts in the class of 1964 at Rosalia High School. They were married in 1967 and this June will be celebrating their 49th wedding anniversary. They have two children, five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Judith Holter in Olympia emailed this. “My sister and brother-in-law met in the 3rd and 4th grades, respectively, at St. Joseph School in Spokane. (The school had four rooms, so there were two grades to a room.) They dated in high school, but not exclusively. After graduation from Marycliff, she went to nursing school in Tacoma. He finished Gonzaga Prep and enrolled at Seattle University. They kept connected, finished school, found jobs, got married at St. Joseph’s in 1967 and will celebrate their 49th anniversary this summer!”

Ron Cauvel married his high school sweetheart. “We’re both NC grads. We’ll be married 59 years in July. I guess it turned out OK.”

Ellen Martin Bernardo shared this. “I met my husband, Gary, at my 16th birthday party. A mutual friend invited him to come along. We are so glad he did! We have been together ever since. We have two children and four grandchildren. On the hard days, I always knew if I packed my bags, I would pack his bags to come with me. Forty plus years: I call that successful. Our motto: ‘Grow old along with me, the best is yet to be.’ I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. I know he feels the same way.”

Larry Seemann and his wife, Sherry, were sweethearts and classmates at Riverside High School, class of 1967.

“We got married in 1969 when I returned from Vietnam. Next week we will celebrate our 47th anniversary. We are the only two members of our class that married each other. It’s been a wonderful journey together!”

Howard and LaFaye Smith sent this. “We were high school sweethearts and we think it turned out great since we will celebrate our 65th anniversary in June.”

Herb and Ruth Beck were high school sweethearts near Buffalo, New York. He graduated in 1959, she graduated in 1960. They married in 1961 and have three children, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Laramie Rice and Carley Richardson Rice graduated from North Central in 1955. They married in Coeur d’Alene later that year. They have five children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Gloria Vogel shared this. “My husband, Fred, and I both graduated from Lewis & Clark HS, class of 1954. We met as sophomores in Mr. Toev’s history class and started dating. We were married on August 16, 1955 so celebrated our 60th wedding anniversary last year, 2015, with a wonderful gathering of about 150 family and friends at an open house in the Cusick City Park. My husband spent his entire teaching career (35 years total) at Cusick HS and when he retired in 1999 as Athletic Director, they named the football field after him!”

Gabi Tilley married her high school sweetheart, Ron, in 1982. “I am proud to say that I am his girlfriend and his loving wife.”

Then there was this from Bill Mahaney.

“In the spring of 1950 I was 9 and in the fourth grade. One day the classroom door opened and framed a new student…a beautiful girl with curly hair and a light blue dress. I looked at her, she looked at me, and our eyes locked.”

They married on July 13, 1963, They will celebrate their 53rd anniversary this summer.

“We both married our high school sweetheart, and we both are glad we did!”

Lastly, there was this from Nadine Yingst Joubert.

“I didn’t marry my high school sweetheart but 47 years later I still wish I had.”