J.B. and June Jones of Goodman recently celebrated their 67th wedding anniversary with at party at their home with family and friends.
The couple met as teenagers, and from the beginning they kept in touch over the miles separating them. June lived in Wichita, Kan., and J.B. lived in Bromide, Okla. J.B.'s brother lived next door to June's family, and his family would come and visit his brother. That's how the couple met. He was 15; she was 14.
"I kept in touch with him through writing," June said.
After J.B.'s brother moved away from Wichita, he would still come to visit because he had a friend whose brother lived there. One year they stayed all summer and worked, June said. When J.B. graduated from high school, he went to business college in Dallas. On Christmas break, June and her brother and J.B.'s friend went to Bromide, and J.B. came home with them. J.B. quit business college and went to work on a construction crew in Oklahoma City with some friends.
On the weekend June graduated from high school, the couple married.
"He came and we were married at two o'clock in the afternoon and I graduated that night," June said.
"I didn't have any money to buy a marriage license," J.B. said, "so I borrowed $65 from her and I never paid her back."
He noted it was 1950 and he was 19. A man had to be 21 at the time to buy a marriage license without permission from a parent, so he had to send papers to his father in Bromide to get his signature so that he could buy the license.
The couple also noted J.B. never did get down on one knee to propose.
"For some reason it just seemed like we were going to get married. I never did ask her," J.B. said.
The couple moved to Missouri because June's father moved there first.
"We never even thought about living in Missouri. We would't want to live anywhere else now," J.B. said.
The both retired in 1993, June from La-Z-Boy after 21 years, and J.B. from a turkey farm. They were able to do some traveling to Maine and California. Now they enjoy going to basketball games and playing dominoes with friends.
Asked what makes a marriage successful, June said, "You put the other person first. Think of each other before yourself."
Asked what advice she would give a newlywed couple, she said, "Don't be afraid to say you're sorry. Never leave the house without a kiss. Put God first in your life."
June then added, "It's never been too hard to please (J.B.). We've had some lean years, but they've all been good years. I guess the hardest time was raising teenagers. But they all turned out good."
The couple said the first Saturday of every month their kids come over for breakfast.
"It's a good tradition to have. It's hard for families to get together," June said.
"I always thought it was important to pay attention to your kids," J.B. said.
The couple has five children, 12 grandchildren, 24 great-grandchildren and five great-great-grandchildren.
General News on 06/22/2017