Seven Decades Of Marriage Bliss

Love, faith and honesty.

Those three words have served as the foundation for Ralph and Carolyn Tackett’s marriage since the day they said “I do” nearly 75 years ago.

“I would say understanding one another, getting to know one another and being truthful with one another are what’s important” Ralph said during a telephone interview last week.

Ralph and Carolyn (Snider) were married on Dec. 8, 1946, after a two-year courtship. At the time they began dating, Ralph, a Tabor High School graduate, was farming and Carolyn, who had attended several rural grade schools and high school in Glenwood, was a country school teacher.

“We met at a country box social,” Carolyn said. “The ladies fix up a box with kind of a picnic lunch in it and the guys bid on the boxes.”

Ralph was the high bidder on the boxed lunch prepared by Carolyn’s mother, Nellie Snider. It’s the best investment Ralph has ever made because it led him to meeting the love of his life.

“I liked her looks,” he said of Carolyn. “She was a school teacher and very interesting.”

Ralph and Carolyn went on their first date – a movie in Omaha – the day after meeting at the box social. They don’t recall the name of the movie they saw on that date, but Ralph remembers driving to the theater in his 1936 Ford.
Carolyn said she was attracted to Ralph because “he was good looking and a load of fun.”

They dated for two years before getting married on a 70-degree December day at the home of Carolyn’s parents. They honeymooned in Lincoln, Neb.

Their first home was near Glenwood, where they farmed for seven years. They later lived and farmed in the Emerson and Malvern areas before returning to Glenwood, a community they continue to call home. Over the years, Ralph raised sheep, hogs, chickens and cattle. Carolyn stayed home to help on the farm and raise their three children – daughters Twila and Rosanne and son Philip.

“I was brought up in a loving family,” daughter Roseanne Nutting said. “You know, they were a team and that’s what you did. Being a farm family, you worked and you just made it work.”

Ralph and Carolyn have shared a strong commitment to their Christian faith. They’ve been active members of the First Christian Church in Glenwood where Ralph served as an elder and deacon and Carolyn was a deaconess. They were both youth leaders and active in Sunday school and church social activities. They helped organize and serve the church’s very first Care and Share Dinner.

After Ralph retired from farming, he worked for several years at the Place’s retail store in Glenwood. Over the years, he was involved in Farm Bureau and was a member of the Masonic Lodge and Optimist Club. Carolyn, known for canning and freezing produce from the family garden and fruit trees, did some substitute teaching and work for the Census Bureau, chamber of commerce and job service after their children were raised.

Ralph, 96, and Carolyn, 94, now reside at Linnwood Estates. Like other residents at assisted living facilities, they’ve been allowed limited contact with their family since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have seven grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.

Nutting said her parents have remained upbeat during the pandemic, but it’s been difficult, particularly since the weather has turned cold and they’re unable to go outside. She’s hopeful the COVID situation will improve in the coming months so the family can gather with Ralph and Carolyn when they celebrate their 75th anniversary in December.

“You just don’t see very many couples make it to 75 years,” she said. “That’s something special.”