Roy Williams has officiated nearly 80 weddings.
But the most memorable of weddings was his own, nearly 70 years ago, to his wife, Ozella.
“After you talked to me the first time, we talked about it," he said. "'Can you imagine, we’ve been married 69 years! Together!” Well, it's just … It’s never been a thing that we worried about or anything. It was just understood, this is my wife. I’m her husband. We’re together.”
Roy and Ozella live at the Kenai Senior Center. On Valentine’s Day, 87-year-old Roy was greeting people at the center door from his red wheelchair. Ozella, 85, was nearby, wearing a red sweater and red sneakers to match. They both had heart stickers on their hands.
This October marks 70 years since the Kenai residents tied the knot as teenagers in Laurel, Mississippi. It was 1952, and The Korean War was in full swing. Polio vaccines were in early development and The Today Show made its debut on NBC.
Ozella was 15 at the time and Roy was 17. Their first date wasn’t much of a date at all – Roy said he was coupled up with another girl, who was friends with Ozella.
But when they all went to the theater together, Roy and Ozella hit it off. Not long after that, they started seeing each other.
"We were kids," Roy said. "We just knew we liked each other and we wanted to be together."
"I didn’t know what love was," Ozella added, laughing. "Oh, I thought he was so handsome. He was blackheaded and dark complected. And he had a nice car, that belonged to his parents. And he’d come out to see me. And it had the best heater."
Ozella said they knew they wanted to start a life together. It was as simple as that.
"We married in October of ’52," she said.
But actually starting that life was a little more challenging. The couple had to get signed permission from their parents to be married, since they were underage.
They were also both still in high school at the time. When Roy finished school, they moved to South Carolina, where they lived in a small trailer and Roy worked nights at a service station. Not long after that, they moved back to Mississippi and back in with Roy’s parents.
"When we got married, my parents had the grocery store and I worked with them, at 15," Ozella said. "And I thought he had money. His family had money."
"Because they had this store, I thought they had money," Roy said.
Plus, Ozella said, Roy was always wearing a dress shirt and dress pants. Turns out, they belonged to his father.
"We found out neither one of us had any money," she said.
It was the beginning of a long streak of figuring out their problems together.
A few years after they wed, they had one daughter, and then another. And then Ozella got cancer.
"The doctors had said they had done all they could do for me. And, of course, he was praying," she said.
"By then, I had surrendered to ministry," Roy said. "Both of us had surrendered to the ministry in ’57. And we were pastoring a little country church, paid $35 a month. And we did that and these friends came and we prayed outside of the hospital. For God to spare her life. And he did."
Roy said partnership has been the most important thing in their relationship. After she was sick, Ozella went to school to become a registered nurse. The pair would take turns taking care of the kids while the other was at school or work.
Later on, Roy had his own medical issues, at one point becoming partially paralyzed. This time, it was Ozella’s turn to be caretaker.
"We work together as a team," Roy said. "If she’s got a problem, I’ve got a problem. If I’ve got a problem, she’s gotta problem."
"And we usually don’t have those problems at the same time," Ozella said.
It hasn’t all been so heavy. Roy and Ozella are also adventure partners. They moved to Kenai in 1977 and have made a habit of traveling, at one time doing mission work in Canada.
Throughout the last seven decades, they’ve learned to keep disagreements in perspective.
"We don’t fight," Ozella said.
Not ever?
"No," they said together.
And they said it’s important to never go to bed angry. That’s something Roy would tell couples when he counseled them right before they got married, part of his work with the ministry.
Come October, Roy and Ozella are not likely to put up the streamers for their anniversary. Ozella said they usually keep the celebrations pretty low-key.
But the milestone and this Valentine’s Day are chances to feel grateful for their enduring relationship. Ozella is still Roy’s caretaker, though she also gets help from staff at the senior center. Roy tries to take care of her when he can, too.
"After all of these years, we’re still loving each other and caregiving each other," Roy said. "Helping one another. Because we’re a team. I don’t have anything that she doesn't have."
And they’re still choosing to be a team with each day that comes. That's maybe truer today than ever before.
