Blairs have spent 65 years together years ago
By JENNIFER WILSON
News editor
People said it would never work.
She was a German Mennonite; he was French. The cultures were too different to combine into one marriage.
Sixty-five years later, Milford and Kathryn Blair have proved everyone wrong.
On Aug. 20, the Blairs will celebrate 65 years of marriage — a length of time that goes beyond the lifespan of some people.
They're celebrating more than six decades together this Sunday with an open house at First Mennonite Church.
Although they now live in an apartment at Park Village, Milford and Kathryn Blair met at a small country school southwest of Canton in the South Diamond School District.
At the time, both were 24 years old. Milford was farming and working in the oil fields, and Kathryn (whose last name was then Ratzlaff) was teaching the intermediate grades at the school.
One night, the school held a box supper fundraiser, and both of them happened to be there. Milford was introduced to Kathryn, and a few hours later, he offered to walk her home.
"I'll be in touch," he told her that evening.
A few days later, Milford gave her a phone call, and the rest was history. They were married three years later — Aug. 20, 1937.
The wedding took place in the chapel of Bethel College, where Kathryn earned her teaching degree. It had rained the night before, but on the evening of their wedding day, the sunlight streamed through the stained glass windows of the chapel.
After they were married, the Blairs moved to Milford's family homestead, where they farmed until 1943. Next, they moved to another farm near Lehigh, where they spent almost two more decades.
It was the late 1950s when farmers were making a tough decision, Milford said.
"Farming was (either) getting bigger, or get out," he said.
They chose to get out — and they moved to town. They bought a house on West Grand in Hillsboro, where they'd live for the next 40 years.
Milford went to work for Associated Milk Producers International, and Kathryn continued working for the school district. She'd been teaching various grades ever since the teacher shortage during World War II.
Kathryn was the first one to retire, in 1973.
"I wanted to do other things," she said.
During her last 16 years with the Hillsboro school district, Kathryn taught second grade — and she enjoyed the younger crowd.
"I enjoyed those second-graders," she said.
Over the years, Blair managed to complete her bachelor's degree at Bethel and her master's degree at Emporia State.
"I did it the long way," she said.
By 1976, Milford also retired from his job at AMPI. But retirement didn't mean laziness for the couple — they kept involved in community affairs, especially in the founding of the Et Cetera shop in 1977.
Milford became very involved in recycling, and until just recently helped take recycling materials from Park Village over to the recycling center. Now he just takes care of his own household.
The Blairs have one daughter — Lenore, who passed away in 1994 at the age of 55.
In the mid-'90s, the Blairs decided to look for a place to retire to. They chose Park Village, and moved into the apartment of their choice in 1996.
They still try to keep busy. They enjoy getting out for country drives — to "get the house stink off," Milford said — and reading whatever they get their hands on.
