Childhood sweethearts will tie the knot 58 years later years ago
By MICHELLE BOSWORTH
Staff writer
Back in 1941, Betty Hastings was an athletic fifth grader who attended and lived across the street from Gardner Elementary School in Wichita.
Leon Barr moved into that district the same year. His sixth grade class was so large, some of the students had to share a classroom with the fifth graders. And it is in that classroom that Betty and Leon's love story begins.
"We were always making eyes at each other across the classroom," said Leon. He admired her outgoing personality. "When the teacher asked for someone to read, she was the first to raise her hand."
Leon also liked how Betty was a "tomboy and had a surplus of energy." They both loved athletics, so late afternoons and evenings would find them, plus 10-15 other friends and siblings, playing baseball, hide-and-go-seek, Annie Over, and soccer at Betty's house.
"Betty and I have always had three things going for us," said Leon. "They are communication, affection, and fun. We always have had lots of fun."
But in 1943, Betty's parents moved the family to Cheney. Although she now lived 25 miles away, Leon biked, drove, and motorcycled to visit her every weekend.
One time, he began the bicycle ride home, but both tires went flat, leaving him to walk the long road home. Nevertheless, Leon faithfully continued to visit Betty.
Betty wasn't allowed to date until she turned 16, so they always were chaperoned. They sat next to each other in church, carefully concealing from Betty's mother that they were holding hands.
In the summer of 1947, 18-year-old Leon and 16-year-old Betty attended a Christian youth party at Lake Afton. There, Leon gave Betty a wristwatch and proposed to her. However, they decided to keep their future plans a secret.
One day at school, a girl found a letter Leon had written to Betty and she posted it on the school bulletin board. Betty, afraid her mother would find out their secret from someone else, ran home and told her mother she and Leon wanted to get married.
Her mother said, "Absolutely not!" and refused to let Betty see Leon again. Leon talked with Betty's mother. She listened to what he had to say, but refused to reconsider.
"She told me that she thought I was going to be a loser," said Leon.
Betty's mother would not relent. Believing strongly in obedience to parents, Betty returned the wristwatch to Leon and they were heartbroken. Stunned and hurt, Leon shut himself in his room and bawled for five days.
Leon later married and he and his wife raised three children while he worked as a superintendent in road construction. He then spent 27 years selling construction equipment before retiring in 1993. By then, his wife was ill, and he spent 16 years taking care of her. The last three years, he and his granddaughter were constantly at her bedside.
"The two lowest points in my life were losing Betty and losing my wife," said Leon.
Betty married Jack Price and spent 34 years living in California. They raised four children and later returned to Kansas.
Eventually, Jack and Betty bought a home in Hillsboro and turned it into Carousel Bed and Breakfast. When Jack became ill with emphysema and Alzheimer's disease, Betty cared for him until his death three years ago.
Throughout the years, Betty remained in contact with Leon's mother, occasionally writing and visiting her.
Concerning Leon, she said, "We saw each other very few times in that 57 years, but we knew about each other through Leon's mother."
"Even though we married others and spent years apart, that flame was still there," said Betty. "It wasn't nurtured. Leon had made his commitment and so had I. Our marriages were good. But there was still that longing to see each other and spend some life together."
Less than a month after his wife's death, Leon suffered another blow. His mother died. The pain and loss were too much.
"I crashed after their deaths. I was having panic attacks and was in a hospital," he said. Betty visited him every day and offered to care for Leon after he was released from the hospital.
"With my kids' blessing, I came here and Betty nursed me back to health," said Leon. "My kids idolize her. Betty has pulled my family back together."
Betty also enjoyed spending time with Leon again.
Betty's son, Gordon mentioned, "Anyone who can make my mother that happy is OK by me."
So, this past June, 58 years after the first proposal, Leon bought a ring and popped the question again. But this time there were no secrets.
So family members will come to Hillsboro Aug. 14 to witness the marriage of two childhood sweethearts. The ceremony will be held at Parkside Church and reception will follow at the Hillsboro Senior Center, 242 North Main.
Almost 64 years ago, in a Wichita elementary school, Leon and Betty first "made eyes" at each other.
Life has taken many unexpected twists and turns, the couple feels blessed.
