Couple spends lifetime together

Loretta George/Tribune photo Ormonde Beltz, 90 years old tomorrow, and his wife, Carolyn, 88 were married 70 years ago today.

The handsome young man caught her eye, but really, she didn't think she had a chance, and she probably never could have imagined that 80 years later, they would celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary together.

Carolyn and Ormonde Beltz met when they were children living in Sugar Creek, Mo. more than eight decades ago.

"We lived across the street from each other," Carolyn said.

Carolyn noticed Ormonde early on, because she and Ormonde's sister, LaVaughn hung around together as good friends.

"Mother said she didn't know if he'd ever notice her," Cynthia Cooley, the Beltz' daughter said with a smile.

"He was a good-looking guy. I didn't think I had the ghost of a chance with him. All the girls liked him," Carolyn said.

She attended Northeast High School in Kansas City, Mo., while Ormonde went to Manual Training School in Kansas City, Mo.

Ormonde attributed the attention from girls to his owning a car.

"I had a Model A car, that's what attracted them," said Ormonde who is a quiet man.

What attracted him to his outgoing wife?

"She was a good person," he said.

While on he was leave from the Army, just out of boot camp, they decided to get married.

"They were on a date on Aug. 28 when they decided they wanted to get married," Cooley said. "They told her sister and she said 'You can't get married without telling Mom and Dad.'"

They told their parents, then called a Lutheran minister, Pastor Dierckson.

"He said 'Come on over when you get everything together,'" Cooley said.

By the time they found a county official who could sign the marriage license, it was late. They found one, but he was at a county fair in Liberty, Mo., which required about an hour's drive one way, then an hour's drive to return. The couple drove there, got the signature, then drove back to Sugar Creek to get dressed for the wedding.

It was 2 a.m. on Aug. 29 by that time, but Pastor Dierckson met them at the church, which was located near the parsonage.

Present for the wedding ceremony were Ormonde's parents, August and Cordulla Beltz, and his sister, LaVaughn.

His leave from the army was short, and Ormonde went on to serve his country in England, France and Germany as a staff sergeant. While in Germany, a German 88 bomb fell between his legs without exploding. His daughter, Cynthia, sees that as divine intervention.

Meanwhile, Carolyn was at home in Kansas City working at a bank.

When the war ended and Ormonde returned home, he worked in a body and fender repair shop in Kansas City, called Needles Body Shop.

Ormonde had fond memories of farm life in Nebraska, where his family lived before moving to Kansas City.

A Kansas City friend of Ormonde's, G.C. Smith, purchased a farm near Fort Scott, and after discussion the Beltzes decided to purchase a farm near Fulton in 1950. They raised their children there. Ron and Mark Beltz still live near Fulton, Cynthia Cooley lives in Fort Scott and Elisa McKay lives in Kansas City. The Beltzes have nine grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

To what do they attribute the longevity of their marriage?

"Our faith in God. You get married, you stay married. You forgive and look beyond the bad things. None of us is perfect," Carolyn said.

"God is important in this family," Ormonde said. "The best advice I can give anyone is go to church and make it the center of your life."

"We have a pew (at church). My whole family sits in that pew. That's a great feeling," Ormonde said.

The Beltzes lived on their farm until March, when they moved in with Cynthia.

On Aug. 30, Ormonde will turn 90 years old, and today they are celebrating 70 years of marriage.

"It's been 70 wonderful years. He's the top of the line," Carolyn said.