Relationships Talk

Attention, it must be noted, was caught on both sides.

“I knew he was going to get fired because he was giving so many hot dogs away to friends and to other girls,’’ Jeanne Newby said of the first time she met young Dan Newby more than eight decades ago. “I thought him to be cute, but I was too young for him at the time.’’

Time, though, would pass, and Dan Newby could not shake young Jeanne from his mind. There would be a first date and then a long-distance relationship when Dan went off to college. By 1941, 20-year-old Dan had finally won 18-year-old Jeanne’s heart.

“I was at Eastern Illinois University Teacher’s College,’’ Jeanne said. “You know some things in life are right, and I knew he was the one.’’

So 77 years ago to the day — on Sept. 12, 1941 — Dan and Jeanne tied the knot. Now at ages 97 for Dan and 95 for Jeanne, they are as happy as they were on that day nearly eight decades ago.

“We have seen a lot together,’’ said Dan, who, like his bride, is razor-sharp and in tremendous shape. Dan and Jeanne are always smiling. They are laugh-a-minute types and as optimistic about life today as they were on their wedding day.

“It’s been great; I sure got lucky,’’ Dan added. “I don’t know what she saw in me, but I’m sure glad she saw it.’’

The ink was barely dry on the Newbys’ wedding license when the Japanese bombed Pear Harbor. Dan answered the call to serve his nation, teaching navigation to Air Corps cadets.

“We moved a lot during the war,’’ Dan said, rattling off a number of places where he was stationed. Luckily, he was able to bring his young bride along. “It was four years of being here and there, doing our part. I wound up in Guam just before the war ended.’’

Knowing how to pack, the Newbys had no trouble moving to keep up with Dan’s career changes. After finishing college, there were stops in Oregon, where he worked in a lumberyard, and in the Quad-Cities, where he spent a successful stint in the insurance game.

In retirement, the Newbys moved to North Carolina.

“That was a great time,’’ Jeanne said. “Dan was a doing variety of things just to stay busy after retiring. I loved it there. I love the outdoors and loved hiking in the mountains. I think that had a lot to do with me being in good health today.’’

Jeanne and Dan are modest and humble folks, parents to three daughters, grandparents to nine, and great-grandparents to 10.

Jeanne — hesitant about dispensing advice — said what has made their long marriage successful might not be best for others.

“Just listen and try to like what they like,’’ she said of what it takes to maintain a long and happy relationship. “We have three really good kids. Mind you, it was pretty interesting around our house with three daughters, but it’s been a fun ride.’’

It is not lost on the Newbys that they have lived together through a number of wars, and watched a nation advance on so many fronts. If it happened in the last century, the two were around to see it.

“We have seen and lived so many great things through the years,’’ Jeanne said, with Dan nodding in approval. “Advancements in a lot of things. Technology amazes us and what has been done that way, though we aren’t up with much of it.

“It seems as though people still care about each other, but a lot of things are either one side or the other, and no one wants to meet in the middle.’’

Today the Newbys will celebrate their anniversary with family and friends at their Park Vista retirement community home. They are shinning examples of what marriage is about — finding the right person to share your life with, and living life to the fullest.

There will be humor and there will be joy. There is always humor and joy with Dan and Jeanne Newby.

“I don’t know what she saw in me, but I’m sure glad she saw it.’’ Dan Newby