A secret wedding in 1940 was the start of a more than 60-year marriage for Letha and Cloyce Statler. She sat down with KCII News at her residence in Halcyon House to share her story. The couple met when her sister was dating his cousin. Letha attended Washington High School and Cloyce attended West Chester High School.

The Washington County couple went to Jefferson City, Missouri, in 1940 to get married because at that time married women weren’t able to keep working. She got a new dress and wore a corsage for the occasion. She was a switchboard operator for the telephone company.

She reminisced of going to the State Theater and the Fox Theater in downtown Washington. Looking back at the years of Valentine’s Days, she said her husband never missed a holiday or birthday.

This year would have marked Cloyce’s 100th birthday and their 75th wedding anniversary, but he passed away in 2002. To hear the full interview with Letha Statler listen to today’s Washington Page.