Happy Valentine’s Day: Winona Lake Couple Vowed To Love Each Other Always
Happy Valentine’s Day: Winona Lake Couple Vowed To Love Each Other Always
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Amanda Bridgman-abridgman@timesuniononline.com
Happy Valentine’s Day: Winona Lake Couple Vowed To Love Each Other AlwaysNot just for an hour, not just for a day, not just for a year, but always. That’s how Winona Lake residents Milt and Sue Ryerson describe their love after nearly 72 years of marriage. “We were high school sweethearts,” the Ryersons said of how they met. They both grew up in smalltown Whitehouse, Ohio (near Toledo), and lived on the same street. “We’ve known each other most of our life, really.” Sue said she and Milt first started going together when she was 16 years old and they would walk to high school together. They married when she was 18 and he was 19. They’re both now in their 90s and reside at Grace Village. “Soon after, we were married and we left to begin college life,” Milt said. He wound up in Winona Lake at Grace College to finish up his schooling, then went to Grace Seminary to become a pastor. His pastoring took them out of Winona Lake and to several other states for more than 35 years, but they returned in 1999 because they wanted to retire here. They are proud parents to six children and they have many grandchildren and great-grandchildren spread throughout the United States. They say their marriage and love has lasted so long because of their faith. “We started out as Christians and we try to practice the Christian life and what the Bible says is marriage, and that’s how we try to practice our marriage,” Milt said, adding they both wanted their children to see that growing up. “Learn to be forgiving. Learn to encourage one another. That was important for us. Life has lots of ups and downs. There’s no perfect marriage, of course, but there is an ideal marriage,” he said. On June 12, they’ll celebrate their 72nd wedding anniversary. “Marriages have to be worked at,” Milt said, agreeing with his wife when she said, “Love grows through the years.” Another thing they credit their strong union to is they’ve always tried to do everything together. “We always tried to do everything together. We stay active. We enjoy Grace Village very much, and we want our kids to see how God-given principles work in life,” they said. A song that means a lot to them is the song “I’ll be Loving you Always.” Sue nearly teared up while reciting some of the lyrics. One of their proudest accomplishments is their family. “We’re glad that our kids enjoy each other, enjoy us. That’s important to us that they like to be together,” Milt said. So, this Valentine’s Day, take a love tip from one of the longest-married couples in the county: “Don’t go to bed angry, and always make the last thing you say to each other ‘I love you.’”
