Decades of love: Couples celebrate marriage at Touchmark wedding vow renewal ceremony

On Friday, eight couples at Touchmark on South Hill renewed their wedding vows in a special celebration.

Three of those couples represent a combined 207 years of wedded bliss.

Joan and Ed Schlect

The Schlects married 66 years ago, after meeting at Washington State College (now WSU) in Pullman.

She worked in food services on campus and thinks her milk-pouring skills caught Ed’s eye. Joan always tipped the glass to avoid foam, which meant more milk for Ed.

He worked as an engineer, and the couple raised their three sons in the Tri-Cities. The boys all played baseball.

“One night I went to four games,” Joan said. “That was our social life!”

Four, because Ed played softball into his 70s.

“She’s supported me in everything I’ve done,” he said.

His advice for men who aspire to a happy marriage is simple.

“Be kind to your wife.”

Joan said it helps that they’re both very forgiving people.

“Our faith is important,” she said. “Our kids say we’ve been good examples for them, and that’s so humbling. We’re just plain old people.”

Ed shook his head and put his arm around her.

“No, you’re special,” he said.

Joan beamed at him.

“So are you,” she replied.

Gayle and Gaynel Gering

In June, the Gerings will celebrate their 68th anniversary.

The couple met in high school in Ritzville when she was a freshman, and he was a popular senior basketball star.

They didn’t date until the summer Gaynel graduated. She was at the golf course with her dad, when Gayle walked over and asked her to a dance at Sprague Lake. That night they danced to “Rock Around the Clock.”

“He’s always been such a gentleman,” she said. “He always opens the door for me and insists I enter the elevator first.”

Gaynel earned her future father-in-law’s approval in the kitchen. A fishing expedition netted them 30 fish.

“His dad asked me to fry them up, so I did,” she said.

Gayle said his dad told him Gaynel was a fine German cook and that he shouldn’t let her get away.

He took that advice to heart, and they married on a scorching summer afternoon.

“I was sent to Spokane to pick up the wedding cake,” Gayle recalled. “It was hot, and my car didn’t have air-conditioning.”

The cake slowly leaned to one side.

“I kept propping it back up–then I’d lick my fingers.”

The women at the church set the cake to right, and no one was any the wiser.

Their 68th anniversary on June 21 will be extra special.

“Our granddaughter is getting married that day,” Gaynel said.

Nadine and Bob Finley

On Valentine’s Day, the Finleys celebrated their 73rd anniversary.

The pair were both high school cheerleaders who met in the fall of 1949 when, as freshmen at Washington State College, they both tried out for and made the cheer squad.

Both were in the Greek system, and their houses faced each other, so they saw each other coming and going to class all the time.

“It was very convenient,” Bob said.

He really caught Nadine’s eye at church one Sunday.

“I’m Catholic,” she said. “Bob and his fraternity brothers visited the church, and I watched him kneel and stand at all the right times. I thought he was Catholic!”

She quickly found out he wasn’t – the fraternity visited all the churches in the area.

When they began dating, Bob was clear about his dreams.

“He always wanted to fly,” she said.

When he got his orders for flight school, he wanted Nadine to come with him.

“My mom pulled off a Valentine’s Day wedding in three months!” Nadine said.

After the wedding, the couple survived their first major hurdle.

“I had to teach her to drive,” Bob said. “Thank God for automatic transmission!”

That independence proved important as his military career often resulted in separations, and Nadine was in charge of the home and their three children – each one born in a different state.

“I admire her flexibility,” he said. “We moved 22 times – that’s hard!”

He’s not a bit surprised that their union has lasted 73 years.

“The goal when we got married was to stay married,” he said, patting Nadine’s hand. “I like having her around.”

Bob remembers saying his vows 73 years ago, but can’t recall the exact words.

On Friday, he got a chance to say some new ones.

After the couples walked down a petal-strewn aisle, Amanda Smith, Touchmark’s life enrichment director, led them in repeating the following vows.

I choose you again –

Not just for who you were,

But for who you are today.

For the life we have built,

And the memories we share.

With patience,

With respect,

And with gratitude –

Today and always,

I choose you.

And just like they did so many years ago, each couple sealed their vows with a kiss.