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Summarized by Rosemary Pollock
Long Marriages Run In This LDS Family
(It's a family tradition)
Spokane WA Spokesman-Review 8Jun00 P2
Couples will celebrate 120 years of wedded bliss, Doug Clark says.
SPOKANE, WASHINGTON -- June l9, will represent a combined 120 years
of wedded bliss for the Kirkpatrick and Taylor families. Ray
Kirkpatrick, 92, and his wife, Juanita, 90, will celebrate their 70th
wedding anniversary along with their daughter Jeanetta, and her
husband Virgil who will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
Jeanetta decided to marry on June 19, the same day her parents were
married, as a tribute to them. "It meant we had to get married on a Monday
evening, which was kind of unusual," Jeanetta said and then added, "It was
worth it."
The Kirkpatricks have lived on a hill about a mile over the Pend Oreille
County line near Elk for so long that the roads are named after them. Their
home can be found on Juanita Lane which intersects with Kirkpatrick Road.
Ray and Juanita moved from Spokane during the Depression where he had his
own dairy.
"I was down there losing my shirt. So I came to Elk and finished losing
it," he says laughing. He delivered milk with a horse-drawn wagon for
Broadview Dairy. In 1931, the company bought trucks and Kirkpatrick found
himself whistling for his horses while the truck just sat there. "Every
time I'd do this I'd kinda look around hoping nobody saw me," he said.
The Kirkpatricks raised three daughters. They have 10 grandchildren, 31
great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren. The Taylors have
five children and 22 grandchildren. A celebration for their anniversaries
is planned on June 17 with an open house to be held in their honor from 1 to
4 p.m. at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Chattaroy.
When asked the secret to his long and happy marriage, Ray laughs, "Just
keep your mouth shut." Daughter Jeanetta adds, "There's a lot of love in
our family." "Maybe we don't always say it out loud, but it's always known
and it's always felt."
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