Once upon a time — when food was kept cold by men delivering ice to homes to go in “ice boxes,” when women hung laundry out on clotheslines, and when children did their homework with No. 2 pencils — there lived a boy and a girl on the same street in Kenmore.
Actually, she and her family were the late arrivals, moving there in 1926 when she was 6 or 7. The boy and his family already lived there.
She smiles and her eyes dance, remembering with absolute clarity seeing him for the first time. They met while walking along a path next to a creek. They attended school together, played together.
Years later, they connected on a more meaningful, more personal, more permanent level.
I had the pleasure of connecting with that girl and that boy this week at Pleasant Pointe Assisted Living in Barberton.
The occasion? Their 75th wedding vow renewal and reception. It was an evening affair, meaning it would go on well past their usual bedtimes. But it’s not every day you celebrate 75 years of marriage or are invited to be eyewitness to such a rare moment. Their wedding date was Sept. 3, 1938.
Hundreds — family, friends and fellow residents — gathered in the facility’s flower- and balloon-filled dining room for the festive event, which some fondly and aptly referred to as “the party of the year.”
Dressed in a dark suit and a sunny-yellow glen plaid shirt, with a bright yellow boutonniere in his lapel, Elmer Purvis, 94, was all smiles as he was wheeled up front to await the entrance of his beloved: the former Wilma Clark, 93, the woman he still intends to spend the rest of his life with.
And the stunningly elegant bride, as she was called, wore white, albeit nontraditional. She donned a beautiful white, baby-soft pullover sweater, white pants a la Katharine Hepburn, and slip-on shoes as she slowly made her way to him.
A purple-shirted Phil Sauvageot, who played piano, and flutist Susan Jones kept everyone’s feet tapping with songs of the ’20s and ’30s like Sunny Side of the Street, and gospel tunes of that era.
The audience — some in wheelchairs like the groom, others with walkers or canes — seemingly hung on every word that the Rev. Linda Somerville, pastor of Park United Methodist Church of Kenmore, spoke as she led the Purvises in repledging their love.
“I think you love this woman,” Somerville said, opening the ceremony.
“Yes, ma’am,” an eager Elmer replied with a pleasant but let’s-get-this-show-on-the-road tone in his voice.
Holding hands, Somerville urged the couple “with thankful hearts” to once again declare and pledge their love to one another “until you are parted by death.”
Smooch city
After the prayer, an anxious Elmer could hardly wait for the fun part. In fact, he even asked the minister, “Now can I kiss the bride?”
Permission granted, he did so, a couple of times in fact. And not one of those shy, school-boy pecks on the cheek. Nah, he planted a couple of lingering ones right on the ol’ smackeroo, much to the delight of the onlookers.
These lovebirds sealed their solemn vows not only with kisses but also with the exchange of sparkling new rings.
“You are again united in marriage!” declared Somerville, who has been the Purvises’ pastor for the past 13 years.
Afterward, she addressed the couple’s four grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren (not all of whom could be present), sharing her wish that they too “might see and know this kind of love that lasts through the ages.”
The Purvises, she said, have navigated some pretty tough times in life but their commitment to one another never wavered.
They are, after all, children of the Great Depression.
Wilma agreed, adding, “We know what it’s like to earn and live on a dime … I remember baby-sitting a whole week for $1.25, which I saved to buy a fancy lace dress for my wedding.”
Daughter remembered
Economics aside, the Purvises have dealt with their share of other crises. Elmer, diagnosed with macular degeneration, is legally blind.
Their real loss was the death in 2007 of their only child, Carol A. Storad, absent from the party but present with the Lord.
Mrs. Storad was a whole other story: a popular and superb gift to the Barberton community; a cheerleader and homecoming queen at Barberton High School; graduate of Akron General Medical Center Nursing School in 1961, with a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from the University of Akron. She worked at Barberton Citizens Hospital for 43 years, retiring as chief nursing officer, and for 20 years she taught high school students interested in nursing careers as part of a program involving Wadsworth, Copley, Barberton and Norton. Like her parents, she married her high school sweetheart, Anthony “Tony” Storad, who was present for the Purvises’ anniversary celebration.
An angel ornament decorating the bouquet of yellow roses that Wilma carried served as a stand-in for her daughter “because she was such an angel,” she said.
Wilma worked at Barberton Citizens Hospital for 27 years before she retired and then volunteered there another 20 years, and sang in a group from the hospital that visited patients and nursing homes.
Elmer, a Navy veteran, retired from Babcock & Wilcox with 46 years of service. The Purvises have lived most of their lives in Barberton.
Sprinkled around the room were scores of folks with beautiful stories about the couple.
Sherri Morter, who formerly worked in Pleasant Pointe’s dining room, said the Purvises always stood out “because they always complimented you and always said thank you for even the littlest things. I still keep in touch with them on a weekly basis.”
As their friends and family dined on cake and ice cream and sipped punch and coffee, Wilma Purvis shared her blueprint for a happy marriage:
“Well, it’s pretty simple. You’ll have a lot of ups and downs, I can tell you. But you must always let the ups outweigh the downs.”
Wilma thanked the management — Pleasant Pointe owner Eileen Morris and her daughter Teresa Morris, who is the administrator — and staff for “running such an ideal place.”
“If I should die before Elmer, I want you to promise to adopt him,” she said.
Drinking in the merriment, the couple’s very proud grandson Mark Storad of Doylestown called the milestone “Unbelievable. Just unbelievable!”
My sentiment exactly.
And this one, too: Unforgettable!
Jewell Cardwell can be reached at 330-996-3567 or jcardwell@thebeaconjournal.com