“We went to see a western movie in Deshler for our first date. After the movie I reached down and gave her a big fat kiss and she didn’t slap my face!” laughed Wendell Lowery as he began to share his courtship with Carol.
The attraction was alluring. “I liked her from the minute I saw her,” said Wendell. She was a nice girl; wholesome.” Carol was quite captivated with Wendell as well. “He was tall, handsome, had good manners. He was a nice man. I really noticed him because he wore a long overcoat.”
Carol had lived in Chester with her parents, Fred and Virginia Schreiber. Her father was a railroad depot agent and her mother was a teacher. Carol had relocated to Oak, for employment. As a late teen, she lived in a couple’s house sharing an upstairs bedroom with another young woman.They both worked in Oak as school teachers. While on her lunch break one day, Carol walked out of the grocery store with food in hand when she met him.
Wendell, a young farmer, was strolling down the main street when Carol caught his eye. He struck up a conversation with her and the two hit it off. They set a date to go to the movies. After seeing the western film, their first kiss took their breath away. However, early in the 20th century kissing may have been considered inappropriate and unacceptable in public.
Carol was brought up with a strong Methodist background. To not say swear words was part of Carol’s upbringing. “Wendell had a nice personality and he didn’t swear. That was important to me,” she said. Also, it was not uncommon for Carol’s parents to accompany her and her sister to a ball game, “We certainly didn’t go with boys,” said Carol. Even while living away from home, it was still most proper for a boy courting a girl to meet her parents, so braving a kiss was quite courageous.
Even so, Wendell was respectable of a modest lifestyle and expectations. He joined Carol’s relatives in attending church on Sundays and would spend the day at their house. Often on weekends, Wendell would pick up Carol in his 1932 Chevrolet Coupe at Oak and drive to Chester for family time. “My parents thought he was wonderful!” exclaimed Carol.
Carol also enjoyed being with Wendell’s parents, Virgil and Mona Lowery, where they lived just outside of Oak.“He had a great mom,” said Carol. Virgil worked long hours on the farm. However, when he was near, he would give his approval with a smile introducing her to neighbors and friends. “He would say, ‘This is Wendell’s lady friend,’” said Carol. Wendell added, “She was so lovable. She didn’t talk much, but she was friendly. Anybody that met her felt welcomed by her,” including his parents.
Over time, their courtship grew into a bonding companionship. After a year of dating, Wendell and Carol gathered around playing board games and chatting at her parents’ house as usual. Out of nowhere, Carol astounded everyone when she posed a question to Wendell, “When are we getting married?” Was it a leap year? Was she proposing?
Carol, just knew they were meant for each other, and perhaps wondering why he was dragging his feet, but she was just being inquisitive. There was a brief conversation about marriage, but Wendell didn’t respond immediately with a proposal.
It was early fall 1950, and the courtship continued predictably with family stopovers and going to the movies. While sitting in the Coupe and chatting after a cinema, with forethought and simplicity, Wendell bestowed upon Carol an engagement ring and the eventual question, “Will you marry me?” Wendell had made a trip to Superior and secretly purchased a diamond engagement ring from a jeweler there. With delight, she agreed. The elated couple set their wedding date for Christmas day that same year. So, how did the parents take the news?
“No,” said Wendell’s father. His objection was not against them marrying, but for them to marry sooner! Convincingly, he urged them to marry earlier than December, hopefully, so Wendell would avoid being drafted into the military. Agriculture was fundamental in sustaining life in Nebraska. Virgil’s deliberation was so Wendell could continue the necessity of farming.
The joyful couple married on Oct. 29. They had purchased their wedding bands from a jeweler in Hebron and still have their rings today. A short time after they wed, Wendell completed his basic training in Fort Knox. As a soldier in the Army, he was sent to Korea.
What was the jubilant couple to do now? Before he left the states, Wendell was considering provisional plans for Carol and him upon his return. Wendell spoke with John Scroggin, an Oak banker, regarding farming. They shook hands in agreement for Wendell and Carol to rent the farmhouse and Wendell would farm the Scroggin’s acreage for his wages. While Wendell was overseas, Carol lived with his parents. She continued to teach in Oak. Virgil would drive her there every day as she didn’t have a driver’s license.
Carol and Wendell kept in touch. Carol would write to him daily. He wrote back when he could. When those letters were sporadic, it caused concern. However, one year and nine months later Wendell was home. Scroggin kept his verbal contract with Wendell.
The couple continued the farming tradition as planned. Carol resigned from teaching to help her husband on the farm and to raise their two sons, Tim and David. Later in life, Carol was the Davenport area correspondent for The Superior Express.
The farmland and house, west of Oak,“was out in the boonies. The inside walls were wallpapered. There was no phone or running water. We had to pump water into a bucket and carry it back to the house.”
It took drilling “five or six wells to finally get water. We were then able to irrigate the land out of a ditch with tubes,” remembered Wendell.
The Lowery family grew. Both of their sons married. Wendell and Carol enjoy time with them and their eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Other than the 21 months in the Army and a short time in rehabilitation for his hip after a fall on ice, Wendell, 95, and Carol, 94, “have never been separated,” Wendell said. “She still cooks for me and I set the table. I like her cooking. She will say to me ‘tell me what you want to eat and I’ll fix it.’”
Carol continues homemaking,“I have never hired anyone to clean my house. I still bake pecan rolls with raisins.” Their pledge to each other has carried them through 73 years of marriage. “I told him I would never divorce,” said Carol. “We have just stayed together,” added Wendell.
As Fawn Weaver said, “The difference between an ordinary marriage and an extraordinary marriage is in giving just a little extra every day, as often as possible, for as long as we both shall live.”
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