ABOVE: Oliver and Eunice Meyer today and on their wedding day on Nov. 12, 1950.

FAIRMONT– Oliver “Ollie” and Eunice Meyer have been each other’s valentine for three quarters of a century. The couple, married on Nov. 12, 1950, celebrated its 75th anniversary, or Diamond Anniversary, last year.

According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, only one-tenth of one percent of marriages last 70 years or more.

Oliver, 97, is originally from the Welcome area and Eunice, 99 next month, is from rural Fairmont. The two met at a wedding dance.

“My sister said, ‘you got to meet this guy, Ollie,'” Eunice said. “That’s where we met.”

They can’t quite recall what year that was, but they had also known each other some when they were younger.

When the couple started dating, they often went to the theater and they went dancing a lot, too.

Melanie Schaal, a staff member at Woodland Manor where the couple resides, said, “they talk about going to the Fox Lake Ballroom.”

Their daughter, Dixie Gedstad, said her parents looked like they were floating when they were dancing.

“I’ve seen a video of them dancing and it was just phenomenal,” said Sarah Spear, another staff member at Woodland Manor.

Oliver can’t recall whether he asked Eunice’s father permission to marry her, but Eunice said her mother had him over for dinner quite a few times before they got married.

The two were married at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Fairmont which Eunice’s family was a member at.

ABOVE: An old Valentine’s Day card, which came in a box, that Oliver once got Eunice that the couple takes out every year.
“I told him that it was so pretty he never had to buy me another one,” Eunice said.

A printed notice of the wedding said that “some 275 guests attended the reception in the church parlor where a two-course dinner was served.”

It also includes in great detail aspects of Eunice’s dress, a “white slipper satin gown having a flowing train and a net yoke outline with seed pearls. The sleeves were leg-o’-mutton style. Miss Rosenwinkel’s veil was lace edged and was held to a pearl tiara.”

It goes on to discuss the wedding party and who the out-of-town guests were. It also says the couple went south for the honeymoon but does not specify where.

“We didn’t go too far, I’ll tell you,” Oliver said.

Once back, the couple lived on a farm north of Ceylon until the early 90s. Then they moved into Fairmont where they built a house which is right near Woodland Manor. They moved into the assisted living facility just about three years ago.

For the majority of his life, Oliver farmed and Eunice, who had worked at Storkville in Fairmont prior to getting married, managed the household. They raised five children and as Gedstad said, she was always busy sewing, cooking, cleaning and being involved with church work.

In total, the couple now has 11 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

When asked what advice they have for a long marriage, Oliver said, “I don’t think we ever argued. It was a decent, respectable marriage.”

He asked Eunice to confirm that they never fought and she said if they did, it never lasted very long.

Gedstad said that her parents got a long and had a good sense of humor and she recalled them laughing a lot.

The Meyers had a big 50th anniversary party at Holiday Inn in Fairmont and last year for the 75th a smaller party was held at Woodland Manor.

Bonnie McMurtry, another resident of Maplewood and friend of the couple, actually attended the Meyers’ wedding and has given them an anniversary card every year since.

“Even this last year she gave them one,” Spear said.

Speaking to the longevity of the couple’s marriage, Schaal said, “I don’t know anyone in my life who’s been married 75 years and I’ve been in healthcare for 30 years. I tell everyone they remind me of “The Notebook.”If one’s gone more than 15 minutes, the other one is looking for them.”