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Love flourishes for state's longest-married couple
GREEN VALLEY, Feb 12, 2012 (Bluefield Daily Telegraph - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
In 1941 the U.S. entered World War II, Joe DiMaggio set the Major League hitting-streak record with 56 consecutive games, "Citizen Kane" premiered in New York, and Vinton and Juanita Marshall were married.
After 70 years together, the pair is still going strong and were recently declared West Virginia's longest-married couple.
Both McDowell County natives, the two met in War in 1941 and were married six months later on Dec. 6, 1941, the day before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
"I was from War and he was from Coalwood," Juanita said. "We just met casually when we were both walking down the street in War. I was 17 and he was 19 years old. Our first date was to a place where people went to dance in War. We were together about six months before he asked me to marry him."
According to Vinton, things were much different for couples in 1941.
"This was during World War II and you don't have all the things people have now," he said. "Most people didn't have cars, so all you could do to get to places was walk."
Juanita said she fell in love with Vinton because of his kindness.
"He was so nice to me, and he was nice looking," she said. "He had the prettiest white teeth I had ever seen. He always said the same thing about me."
"I just thought she was a cute girl, and she still is," Vinton said. "We just hit it off so nice and we decided to get married."
During the war, Vinton worked first as a store clerk in War and then served as an electrician in the Coalwood mines for 36 years. Juanita worked for 18 years at a store in Welch in addition to caring for the couple's three children -- Judy, Vinton Jr., and Donna. The pair moved to Mercer County in 1979 and now live in the Green Valley area.
To honor their 70-year marriage, the couple was taken out to dinner by their children and four grandchildren.
"They all live in the area," Juanita said. "They took us out to eat and the family was all there. We just thought we were going out for a nice dinner and there everyone was. They really pulled one over on us."
In January, the couple were honored by the state of West Virginia after winning a contest for being the longest-married couple in the state.
Both Vinton and Juanita agree that working together and mutual respect are the keys to having a long, successful marriage.
"We just understand each other and treat each other right," Vinton said. "We've had spats sometimes, but never any major arguments. We've gotten along. You have to pull together. You can't pull in separate directions."
"We've learned to compromise and get along," Juanita said. "People have their ups and downs, but we've managed to stay together through all of that. I would just say that you have to learn to respect each other and listen to each other."
-- Contact Kate Coil at
kcoil@bdtonline.com
___ (c)2012 the Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, W.Va.) Visit the
Bluefield Daily Telegraph (Bluefield, W.Va.) at bdtonline.com Distributed by MCT
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