ANNIVERSARIES
Alexander County/Illinois Genealogy Trails
Please send your anniversaries of fifty years or more to be included on this page.
Robert
and Nell Kerr say they can't put their finger on the secret to a long,
happy marriage, but the couple, who have been married for 66 years,
believe common interests can go a long way.
"We've always gotten along well, but
I don't know if that's the secret," said Nell Kerr. "And we've
always had a lot in common."
The two, both retired school
teachers, said they went into their marriage on June 2, 1925, with the
idea that it would be forever. They grew up on farms just three
miles apart in Oakdale, Ill.
"I think that so many of the couples
these days don't think marriage is something that's supposed to last,"
she said. "A lot of people just think that if it doesn't work,
they'll just get a divorce," said her husband.
But staying together wasn't
something the Kerr's ever considered especially difficult. "I
think it was easier to stay together back then," she said. "And
divorce was just unheard of."
Being together is something the
Kerrs are good at. They attended college together after they were
married and taught in the same two-room schoolhouse for several years.
During the summers they attended Southern Illinois University in
Carbondale, where Nell earned a bachelor's degree and Robert earned a
master's degree in education.
"We couldn't afford to go while we were teaching," she said. "So it took us a lot of years to get those degrees."
Robert, 89, and Nell, 92, admit that
a two-career couple was unusual at the time they were first married.
In fact, female schoolteachers were often forced to quit teaching
after they were married. But Nell Kerr said she was lucky.
"The schoolhouse wanted a husband and wife, so I was allowed to
stay on," she said. "I was known as a pretty strict teacher, too."
Eventually, the two moved to Tamms,
Ill., were they lived until moving to Cape Girardeau in 1980.
Though their marriage has been good, Nell Kerr said it hasn't
been without it's problems. "We've disagreed now and then," she
said, "but nothing I would consider serious." We never go to bed
mad," her husband added. "You should never do that."
The two were in their early 20s when
they tied the knot, some thing they think may have contributed to their
long lasting union. They also dated for seven years before they
decided to take the plunge.
Good friends also make a difference.
One couple the Kerrs have been friends with for more than 50
years, Mr. and Mrs. John Abercrombie of Tamms, have been married for 79
years.
Robert Kerr says that the fact that
they both had careers has always worked for them. Nell said she
earned $40 a month when she first started teaching, but in those days
that was considered to be a pretty good salary. "Bread was a
nickel a loaf, people didn't have cars, and everything was just less
expensive."
Though the couple never had children
of their own, they said their students over the years have stayed in
touch. "We hear fromt hem a lot at Christmas and our birthdays,
sometimes on Valentine's Day," she said.
Since retiring in 1962, the Kerrs
have traveled extensively, something they, as a couple who "started
with nothing" never had a chance to do earlier. "We were
different than young folks today, " she said. "They think they
should have everything their parents have right when they start out.
When we got married we were on our own."
--Source: An article in the Southeast Missourian, Feb. 14, 1991, entitled "A Lifetime of Love;" submitted by Joy Varner.
Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Newell of Tamms will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with an open house at the Tamms Community Center on February 5 (1984) from 2 to 4 p.m. Glenn and the former Mildred Sheffer were married on January 31, 1934 at Ullin. The event is being given by their daughter, Mrs. Dorothy (Melvin) Smith of Tamms, and sons, Raymond of Anna, James of Tamms, David of Noble, and Michael of Cape Girardeau, Mo. The couple has 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Mildred and Glenn celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 1994 with a family dinner at Porky's Restaurant in Ullin.
Mr. and Mrs. Sid Thomas Celebrate 55th Anniversary
Contributed by Donna Dailey Knight
Mr. and Mrs. Sid Thomas of Cairo celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary Sunday with an open house at their home.
Their two
children, Mrs. Beulah Griffith and Capt. Sid E. Thomas, Jr., and their
families were present for the celebration. Mrs. Griffith makes
her home in St. Louis and Capt. Thomas lives in Lone Oak, Ky.
Thomas is a retired rural mail carrier. He worked for the U. S. Post Office Department for 39 years and eight months.
Before moving
to Cairo 51 years ago, the couple made their home on the old Thomas
farm south of Elco. They have lived at their home at 3609 Elm
Street, Cairo, since that time.
The couple attends the 37th Street Assembly of God Church.
Others
attending the celebration were Mrs. Joe Whitely and her husband of
Poplar Bluff, Mo., Mrs. Pansy McCrite of Tamms, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond
McCrite and family of Tamms, Mr. and Mrs. Melton McCrite of Olive
Branch. Mrs. and Mrs. Paul Crosnoe and children of Cape
Girardeau, Mo., Mr. and Mrs. Tommy Griffith and family of Bridgetown,
Mo.
©2005-2012 Anna Newell, Illinois Genealogy Trails