BREA : 75 Years Wed--Time Simply Flew

As Perry Chansler sat dozing in his favorite chair, his wife, Marie, recounted their life together with the precision of a historian. Indeed, it would take no less than a historian to tell the tales of their life together.

From the smallest details of what she was wearing on their wedding day to the weather, Marie dredged up memories as if she was speaking about yesterday. Quite a remarkable feat, considering that today the couple will celebrate their diamond wedding anniversary. Diamond, as in 75 years.

Perry, 96, used to be the family storyteller, but Alzheimer’s disease has taken away many of his rich memories. So the job of keeper of the family history has been left to Marie, 94, who relishes the job.

“Perry’s sister and my sister went (to the wedding) when we got married in Bridgeport, Ill. It was raining like anything,” Marie said, her soft voice steady as she quietly ticked off the details. “Perry drove a horse and buggy, so we had to stay at my parents’ that first night.”

The Chanslers met on the oil fields outside the Illinois town of Lawrenceville. She worked in her father’s grocery, selling salmon for about 8 cents a can to Perry and the other hungry oilmen who made their living in the fields.

According to family members, Perry described Marie as “the prettiest thing he ever saw.” After a whirlwind courtship, they were married Nov. 22, 1916. A few years later, they packed up and moved to California.

Today, four generations of Chanslers will gather to celebrate the 75 years of marriage, an accomplishment even the happy couple have trouble believing.

“It doesn’t seem like it ought to be that long,” Marie said. “It sure went by fast.”

Oil and the weather brought Marie, Perry and several other family members to the West from the Midwest in 1920.

After living in La Habra for a few months, they settled into a two-room house that Marie’s father built on North Orange Street. The Chanslers were one of the first families to call Brea home.

While Marie raised their five children--including twins Irl and Merle--Perry took a job with the Union Oil Co., where he worked for 40 years. Carl--their eldest son, who died in 1975--would walk down the hillside to attend Laurel Elementary School, Marie recalled.

Much has changed in Brea since those sleepy oil town days. During a recent drive around town, Marie found apartments on the spot that their house once occupied in Brea Canyon.

“It almost made me cry,” she said. “You can hardly tell where you are.”

Her talk wove in and out of their years together but kept coming back to the memories of the day they wed.

Surrounding her as she spoke was the evidence of their long union. Pictures of their surviving children--all now older than 65--join those of their 12 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren in filling the walls of their home. The living room is neatly kept; a Bible rests near a basket full of anniversary cards.

Many of their offspring live nearby and often get together in the couple’s small house on Magnolia Street, in which the Chanslers have lived since 1952.

“It is a privilege to be able to do (things) for them,” said daughter Jennie Phillips, 68, who lives just a few blocks from her parents. “We are very lucky . . . to have them.”