‘We had some tough times and some good times. We just kept on’

If Willis Roe, 94, and Reba Roe, 85, are a bit exhausted, it may be because, in addition to the usual holiday festivities, they also celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary Jan. 6 and Willis’ birthday Tuesday. The couple received a congratulatory letter from President and Mrs. Bush and were feted with an anniversary luncheon by 41 members of their immediate family. Married in 1920, the couple shared memories of their life in an interview with Times reporter G. Jeanette Avent. They were photographed by Barbara Martin Pinhero.

REBA: When we were married, I was 16 and Willis was 24. Way back then, the age difference wasn’t a concern. We lived way out in the country in the Ozarks, and we went to the same church. We met at the pie suppers and singings. On our wedding day, it was real snowy, and we got to the minister’s house for the ceremony by horse and buggy.

When we started out, we moved in with his dad and brother in a one-room log cabin. I was a young girl cooking for three men. But I had three brothers, so I was used to it.

(We didn’t have a telephone, electricity or radio, and there was no water in the house, Willis said.)

We pumped water out of the well. When all my kids were growing up, I washed clothes on a washboard, and I made my own soap.

WILLIS: In the early days, I did a little of everything to make a living. I would work a whole day for a quarter. A dime bought a loaf of bread. I think gasoline was 7 or 8 cents a gallon. We paid $5 or $6 a month for a log cabin we rented. Often I’d trade work for food. I’ve worked many a day for a pound of butter.

I remember the Great Depression during the ‘30s. But I always managed to get some kind of a job. I didn’t go out and say I had to have a certain thing to do or I wouldn’t work. There weren’t very many jobs. There weren’t any factories near where we lived. If I got two or three days’ work at the same place, I was lucky.

We worked about all the time. There wasn’t much time for entertainment. There were pie sales, and square dances in people’s homes to raise money for the schools.

REBA: At Christmas, we’d cut a cedar tree in the woods. We made popcorn and strung it around the tree, and made paper chains out of different colors of paper. Kids now wouldn’t be bothered with things we did then. Our kids would get maybe a pocket knife, a package of marbles or a bar of candy for Christmas. They usually got an orange, an apple maybe, and pencils. That’s all we could give. There was nothing else at the store to buy.

I never got to go to the store much because I had to tend to the little kids. But sometimes Willis would get me a vinyl oil cloth, or maybe a new broom. It sounds really silly to people now. Willis would take a load of wood to town or a load of railroad ties he made, and then he’d bring back the things we needed. To pay for the wood, some people would give some money and they would trade for the rest. Sometimes they would pay in milk or butter or grain.

WILLIS: We sold the 80-acre farm we had bought for $900 and moved up to town to be closer to school. We were about 7 miles from Versailles in Missouri. I farmed there, rented some ground and kept my own team of mules. Then one of Reba’s brothers and mother came out to California, and pretty soon we took a notion we’d come to California in 1937. We just sold out slick and clean.

I had never owned a car in my life till then. But, when I went to Rancho Santa Fe for gardening work, I had to learn how to drive. I was 50 when I learned how to drive. My first car was a 1935 Chevy. I paid about $50 for it.

I think our life together was a good life. I couldn’t really say what I’d do differently. We had some tough times and some good times. We just kept on. But I’m satisfied with what I’ve done. We never depended upon anybody but ourselves. We had nothing given to us. But I don’t regret any of it.

REBA: We didn’t make any particular promises to each other before we married. People didn’t talk about things like that in those days. But I’d advise young couples just starting out in their marriage today to not do something in a rush. Stop and think it over. A lot of young people just want to run from their problems. I would advise them to stay in school if they haven’t finished before they marry. Kids miss so much if they don’t finish.