By Kayleen Holder
Editor
Jim and Kathy Lawler, affectionately known as “ma and pa” by many in the community of Devine, met on a blind date in Vail, Iowa. This February 15, they will celebrate 57 years of marriage. When it comes to how love and marriage works, I noticed that they nearly always spoke in a way that finished each other’s sentences.
“Our first date was to the big city celebration which was the Pony Show and carnival,” Kathy said.
It wasn’t long before Jim gave her a black pearl promise ring, and about a year and a half after they met, they were engaged to be wed.
“We got engaged on New Year’s Eve,” Jim said. “We were on our way to a party in our 1967 Oldsmobile Cutless.”
Kathy chimed in to explain, “He stopped at a stop sign and he said ‘Hey reach in the glove compartment and get something for me…..I don’t remember what it was that he said he needed. But all that was in there was a ring box.”
“I wanted to surprise her,” Jim said with a smile.
“I was shocked!” Kathy replied. “I think I said something like ‘You’re crazy, but yes!”
“So it was a good New Year’s Eve,” Jim said.
That was December 31, 1969.
Kathy came from a “large Irish family of 14 children,” Jim noted, joking “I got #5 of the litter!…I loved her from the beginning but the more I dated her–it just cemented my opinion.”
The Lawlers said they loved to go dancing, bowling, playing cards and hanging out with family. And they soon started a large family of their own, having six children.
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