BUCYRUS – A Bucyrus couple is celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary this week by returning to the same church where they first said, “I do.”
Harold and Annabelle Stinehelfer were married in a double-ring ceremony November 11, 1951, at St. John’s United Church of Christ in Bucyrus. An open house in their honor will be held Sunday, Nov. 14, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at the church, 120 S. Lane St.
Sweethearts from the get-go.
Seniors still in love.
“I would say that in the first place, we loved each other,” said Harold, who just turned 91 on Nov. 4. “We went together, and her likes and my likes and her lifestyle and my lifestyle were very similar. We’ve been together so long anymore that we just kind of flow together.”
The two have racked up the memories – and the miles – over the years. Raised three children and traveled to all 50 states and parts of Europe.
Weathered a few family hardships and battled some health issues. But through it all, they stayed true to each other and to the vows they made long ago.
“We did a lot of traveling because he likes to see the oceans and the mountains and the water,” said Annabelle, who is 88. “I would say the key to our long marriage is called good communication. Growing up, my mother and father always said, when someone else is talking, you listen.”
The teenagers met on the dance floor. “God had a plan,” Harold said when he told the story of how he bumped into a friend downtown. “He was the Farm Bureau Company youth director, and he said, ‘We’re having a square dance Wednesday night. Why don’t ya come?’ I said, ‘I don’t have a date.’”
Harold went to the dance at the Moose Lodge anyway, and, during one of the mixer numbers, the boys and the girls were lined up on opposite sides of the room. “She was in the front, and I was facing the wall the other way. But when we backed into each other, I went on an angle, and I met her out in the middle of the floor.”
Their first date was two days later when Harold took Annabelle to the high school play in which her older sister, Avonelle, had a role. “Her father was out in the barnyard when I picked her up. He said, ‘Hey, Annabelle, your city slicker date is here.’ So, I went to the senior play with her, and we’ve been together ever since.”
Harold worked a few years at the former Walther’s Hardware in town, then in the machine shop at the Timken Company, where he retired in 1989 after 36 years. Family vacations were commonplace for the Stinehelfers, who converted a Chevy van into a camper equipped with electricity, a refrigerator, and a port-a-pot.
Daughter Linda Adams remembers one of their trips to Winter Haven, Florida. “We were walking at Cypress Gardens, and I can remember saying, ‘Oh my gosh, mom and dad are holding hands.’ And they still hold hands,” she said. “I just feel very blessed to have had my parents as long as I have. I couldn’t love them anymore.”
Adams and her sister, Karen Soto, regularly stop in to drop off meals and visit their parents, who still live in their rural Bucyrus home, then share a group hug before leaving.
The Stinehelfers have four grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandsons. A son, Brian, is deceased.
The two, who regularly enter their gold Cadillac convertible in the annual Bratwurst Festival parade, were honored in 2018 as the parade’s grand marshals. Harold is also known around town for faithfully donating blood, having hit the 40-gallon milestone in April.
The Stinehelfers have a favorite phrase – “It’s a matter of opinion.” But when all is said and done, the duo who met do-si-do-ing are happy to still be partners. “I really feel that our life has been very well blessed,” Harold said. “It’s been a good life for both of us.”