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It was love at first sight for Don and Irma Dunford who met and got hitched when they were just 16 and 17 years old. As they celebrate 64 years, they will have the honor of leading the big parade through the community they love so much. Photo by Elizabeth Homan. Here’s a little about their story and how it all began.
In 2011, we interviewed these two love birds as they were celebrating their 49th anniversary. Almost fifteen years later, these two are still as in love as ever, and remain pillars of the community. This year, they will have the honor of leading the parade as Mr. and Mrs. Grand Marshall, through downtown Devine, a community they have loved and generously supported for many, many years through their family business, Chaparral Ford, and also raised their family.
Don and Irma Dunford met when they were teenagers at a birthday party in San Antonio, and they are now celebrating 64 years together. Back in an interview years ago, they shared a little about how their story began. We enjoyed and hope you will too….
“My cousin Leroy had a little birthday party, and Irma was there too because she was best friends with Leroy’s sister. That’s where we met and, and where I fell in love. We had chemistry. I just felt it. Do you know what I mean?” Don says.
Irma remembers that Don started coming over to “visit his cousin” an awful lot after that birthday party.
“Don said he was coming over to visit his cousin, but he really just wanted to see me,” Irma laughed. “We all went out together. Everyone pitched in a quarter for gas and piled in Don’s car,” she said.
Irma and Don married only a year after they met, at the ages of 16 and 17. Shortly after they married, Don joined the Air Force and the couple had to move to Missouri for four years.
“I think that helped us so much, being on our own for awhile, without anyone else’s influences,” Irma said.
But Don remembers that times weren’t always easy when they first started out in that little apartment in Missouri .
“When we were young, we were just trying our best to make it. Everything in our apartment was used—all of our furniture. My grandma sent us five dollars each month, and that helped us pay our electric bill. Irma always kept me grounded,” he said.
About a year after moving back to Texas, the couple bought a small trailer house behind a local car dealership, now Chaparral Ford, which Don and Irma currently own now.
“When I bought this dealership, Irma freaked out. I started with nothing. I sold all my guns, my boat, and my car, anything I could to invest in the company. But my wife wouldn’t let me sell our house in San Antonio until we were sure the dealership would be successful. We’ve come a long way since then,” Don said.
When it comes to staying happy, after spending nearly half a century together, Don swears by the old cliché: If momma ain’t happy, nobody’s happy.
“That old cliché is really very true,” he says.
With a more serious tone, Don acknowledges that he and his wife don’t always agree, but stresses the importance that a husband and a wife respect eachother’s opinions.
“I always listen to what my wife has to say. I think that’s really important,” he said.
The two love birds see the importance of working together and that is clear.
Irma says her favorite thing about marriage is “partnership, always having a partner.”
“Marriage is a really wonderful experience,” Irma said.
“It’s about giving and taking. I think the biggest thing about a lasting marriage, though, is knowing that you can do it if you want to. Differences always work out if you want them to,” Don added.
All these years later, they reside in Devine where they’ve raised their family. They have two children, three grandchildren, one great-grandchild, and one on the way! Two of their grandsons, son-in-law, and their son and daughter are helping to carry on the legacy of the family business, Chaparral Ford, which began over 44 years ago.
