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."