Couples share valentines

Every February 14, people have a reminder of how important it is to love somebody and to have someone love you. Three couples in the Quoddy area who have celebrated a great many Valentine's Days together were asked how they found their life partners and what has made their marriages last.

A fortunate and good life

Percy and Joyce Stuart of Deer Island will be celebrating their 57th wedding anniversary on April 5.

Joyce grew up in Bethel, N.B., and the couple met in 1951 when Joyce was working in a St. Andrews restaurant and Percy and his father Morton were running fish scales on his brother's boat. "They were staying there all week and would come on in to have lunch," recalls Joyce. "He would try to get me to go out with him, and I wouldn't go. One day I got so mad I said, 'I wouldn't go out with a married man,' and then said, 'These married men are trying to get me to go out with them.' And the older man said, 'Well, that coot down there isn't married.' And I said, 'How would you know?' and he said 'I'm his father.'"

Joyce recalls how times have changed. "I think I'd been seeing him for two or three weeks, and he wanted me to go to the [Saint John] Exhibition with him. I told him, 'I don't know you well enough to do that.' She laughs, "He still hasn't taken me to it."

"I just plain liked him," says Joyce about her future husband. "I liked his appearance, and I liked his attitude. He wasn't boisterous, and he had respect for girls."

After things got serious, Joyce moved to Deer Island where, for 14 months, she worked in Butler's Store. "Then Dr. Andrews, the superintendent of schools, asked me if I wanted to teach school in Maces Bay." The job offer helped Joyce realize that she wanted to remain on the island and marry Percy.

"He proposed, and we got married in April 1953 at his home in Lord's Cove. I was 18, and he was 25," recalls Joyce. The two raised three children while he ran his own service station and she worked 26 years at Butler's. Now they are grandparents to one grandchild and two great-grandchildren.

"We've enjoyed a lot of things together," says Joyce of her husband. "We've done a lot of travelling, including 13 bus tours across the U.S. and Canada. He has a lot of patience, and he's very understanding."

Their children hosted a golden anniversary party for the Stuarts in 2003 that happened to fall "on the day we had a big snowstorm. We never had one bigger," recalls Joyce. "A lot of people called to say they couldn't make it, but we still had 105 people."

"It was also my cousin's 64th anniversary C Stanley and Margaret Spinney C so we presented corsages to them, and they had a great time. We loved sharing the day with them."

"We've been very fortunate," says Joyce of her successful marriage. "We've just had a good life. That's all I can say."

The happy compromise

"We've never fought a lot. He does his thing. I do mine, and if he disagrees with me, we work it out."

Louise "Lou" Urquhart of Eastport is pointing out why she is still happily married to William "Buddy" Urquhart 57 years after they wed.

Lou Ramsdell, who grew up on Lincoln Street, and Buddy Urquhart, "who lived all the way over [one street] on Hawkes Avenue," began dating on and off during their junior year at Shead Memorial High School. "Buddy didn't go to dances, so we probably got to know each other at basketball games," recalls Lou. "It got serious during 1950-51, and we got engaged in November 1951. Buddy was in the Navy and came home on leave for a hunting trip so figured [the engagement] better happen then."

The couple was married at Rev. Roland Chaffey's house on August 25, 1952, with Gerald Young serving as best man and Hilda (Carter) Dinsmore as maid of honor.

They purchased a home in their neighborhood and became parents to son Glynn and daughter Tari. Buddy worked at the paper mill in Woodland, and Lou could be found at the superintendent's office in Eastport. The family has grown to include three grandsons, one granddaughter and two great-grandchildren.

Over the years, Buddy and Lou both enjoyed vacations in Atlantic City, Las Vegas and Foxwoods for a bit of gambling. Although they don't take long trips anymore, a visit to Hollywood Slots in Bangor can be fun, too.

"And he likes to hunt and fish and was always looking for a deer hunting trip, but that was fine. It gave me a break," says Lou.

Adds Buddy, "Like I told her when we married, I'll give up 50% of what I like to do and she'll give up 50%, too C and she has."

Enjoying each other's company

Roland and Vi Cheney of Lubec have been married 56 years and are still enjoying each other's company. "We both grew up in Lubec," says Roland of their romance. "We just crossed paths one day, and that was it."

Both 21-year-old Roland Cheney and 23-year-old Violet Morrison liked to dance, and Roland chuckles as he recalls their courtship. "We used to dance a lot. That was it. It didn't take much for us to get together. We just got along fine."

"We did dance a lot together," agrees Vi. "But he was also good looking, and I liked that he was kind."

The couple were married on April 6, 1953, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church by Father Finn. "It was a big wedding," recalls Vi. "My sister Irene [Sheehan] was maid of honor and her husband Charles was best man and two nieces were junior bridesmaids."

Roland went to barber school and supported his family, which eventually included a son Joe, "who lives in Veazie" and a daughter Ann "who is just down the road." After taking a break when her children were young, Vi went to work in the office of Peacock Canning after Ann reached her fifth birthday.

After almost 60 years of togetherness, Vi says the reason she and Roland have had a successful marriage is simple. "We've enjoyed each other's company."