Lon and Irene Myers have loved each other for 70 years, and that will probably never change.
“It’s like the words to their song, ‘Always,’ which we put on their anniversary invitations,” said daughter Sandy Myers. “They love each other ‘not for just an hour, not for just a day, not for just a year, but always.”
Their reception will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. today at the First Church of the Nazarene, with special music at 2:30 p.m. All friends and relatives are invited to stop by and share in the celebration, but the family requests no gifts. However, written remembrances of the past would be treasured.
There were fears that Myers might not be able to attend. On Jan. 29, his 89th birthday, he fell and broke his leg.
“I had cleaned the ice and snow off my driveway and came back into the house,” he said, lying his bed at Mt. Carmel Regional Medical Center. “I took one step into the kitchen and both feet went right out from under me. It did smart. My grandson picked me up and called the ambulance.”
It took a metal plate and several screws to put the broken bone back together.
“The kids counted 13 screws,” Myers said. “That was my birthday present.”
“We talked to the hospital, and they gave my father a three-hour pass to leave and go over to the reception,” Sandy Myers said.
Lon Myers, a handsome gentleman over six feet tall, and Irene Billionis, a lovely little lady who doesn’t quite measure five feet, first met during a Fourth of July celebration at Lincoln Park.
“My girlfriend was dating his friend, but I had never seen him before,” Mrs. Myers said. “He took me home in the rumble seat of a 1929 Model A, and I knew he was the one.”
They were married Feb. 10, 1940 at the Crawford County Courthouse in Girard by a justice of the peace named Colburn.
“He just had one arm, but he did a good job of tying the knot,” Myers said.
Standing up with the couple were the bride’s parents, Nick and Edna Billionis, and the bridegroom’s father, Roy Myers. His mother was Millie Myers.
It was a small, quiet wedding, but what followed wasn’t.
“The Greeks believe in having a feast after a wedding, and a feast we had,” Myers said.
“My father had roasted a goat and a pig all that week to get ready for it,” Mrs. Myers said.
The couple has lived in Pittsburg since their marriage, except for a very brief time in California.
“We weren’t there very long, less than a year, I think, then we came back home,” Mrs. Myers said. “But my husband couldn’t get a job because he was 1 A to go into the military service. Sandy was only two months old when he was called up, and she was about 2 1/2 when he came back. She didn’t know who he was, and kept asking me when that man was going to leave.”
Myers received $28 a month for his service, which went to his wife and two small children, but Mrs. Myers still had to work two or three jobs to get by while he was gone. A relative cared for the children.
“In the day I would work at Otto’s for Frank Johnson, and I’d be there at 6 a.m. when he opened up,” she said. “I’d go home at 1 or 1:30 p.m. to see the children, then around 4 p.m. I’d go to Jim’s Steakhouse to work. Sometimes I wouldn’t get back home until 1 a.m. I didn’t have a car, so I’d get rides from people who worked where I did.”
Mrs. Myers said she was used to restaurant work because, among other businesses, her father had once operated a restaurant.
Myers faithfully wrote to her while he was serving during World War II, in the Philippines, Okinawa and, for seven or eight months, Japan.
“The censors would cut out words, and the letters would be like a puzzle,” Mrs. Myers said. “But I knew he was all right.”
Then, for a month, the letters stopped.
“I cried myself to sleep every night,” Mrs. Myers said. “I was scared to death. What would I do if he didn’t come back?”
It turned out that Myers had been in a hospital for a month, suffering from hives.
“I feel so fortunate that he came home to the children and me,” his wife said.
Myers was discharged from service in 1946, and in 1947 the couple purchased their current home. Myers worked at a variety of jobs, retiring from the Gas Service Company after 33 years. While her children were in high school, Mrs. Myers owned the PX, a small store selling burgers, snacks and candy across from Lakeside Elementary School. She later worked for the Kansas Teachers Credit Union.
Longtime members of the First Church of the Nazarene, they have three children — son Roy Myers, daughter Sandy Myers, and daughter and son-in-law Jo and Gary Melton. “My last count was 24 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren,” Mrs. Myers said.
“We couldn’t have had better parents,” Sandy Myers said.
Her mother feels blessed that she and her husband haven’t lost any of their children, grandchildren, etc.
“There have been close calls,” Mrs. Myers added. “Three of them were miracles, I know that for sure. God has taken good care of us.”
She and her husband are often asked their secret for a long, happy marriage.
“Everybody has problems, but you have to work it out,” Mrs. Myers said. “Even if we do fight, we make up before we go to bed and kiss each other goodnight. I’ve never left him, he’s never left me, and we’ve never thought about divorce.”
“It’s been a good life,” her husband said. “We’re going to go the rest of the way, I guess.”
“You betcha,” Mrs. Myers replied.
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Lon and Irene Myers have loved each other for 70 years, and that will probably never change.
“It’s like the words to their song, ‘Always,’ which we put on their anniversary invitations,” said daughter Sandy Myers. “They love each other ‘not for just an hour, not for just a day, not for just a year, but always.”
Their reception will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. today at the First Church of the Nazarene, with special music at 2:30 p.m. All friends and relatives are invited to stop by and share in the celebration, but the family requests no gifts. However, written remembrances of the past would be treasured.
There were fears that Myers might not be able to attend. On Jan. 29, his 89th birthday, he fell and broke his leg.
“I had cleaned the ice and snow off my driveway and came back into the house,” he said, lying his bed at Mt. Carmel Regional Medical Center. “I took one step into the kitchen and both feet went right out from under me. It did smart. My grandson picked me up and called the ambulance.”
It took a metal plate and several screws to put the broken bone back together.
“The kids counted 13 screws,” Myers said. “That was my birthday present.”
“We talked to the hospital, and they gave my father a three-hour pass to leave and go over to the reception,” Sandy Myers said.
Lon Myers, a handsome gentleman over six feet tall, and Irene Billionis, a lovely little lady who doesn’t quite measure five feet, first met during a Fourth of July celebration at Lincoln Park.
“My girlfriend was dating his friend, but I had never seen him before,” Mrs. Myers said. “He took me home in the rumble seat of a 1929 Model A, and I knew he was the one.”
They were married Feb. 10, 1940 at the Crawford County Courthouse in Girard by a justice of the peace named Colburn.
“He just had one arm, but he did a good job of tying the knot,” Myers said.
Standing up with the couple were the bride’s parents, Nick and Edna Billionis, and the bridegroom’s father, Roy Myers. His mother was Millie Myers.
It was a small, quiet wedding, but what followed wasn’t.
“The Greeks believe in having a feast after a wedding, and a feast we had,” Myers said.
“My father had roasted a goat and a pig all that week to get ready for it,” Mrs. Myers said.
The couple has lived in Pittsburg since their marriage, except for a very brief time in California.
“We weren’t there very long, less than a year, I think, then we came back home,” Mrs. Myers said. “But my husband couldn’t get a job because he was 1 A to go into the military service. Sandy was only two months old when he was called up, and she was about 2 1/2 when he came back. She didn’t know who he was, and kept asking me when that man was going to leave.”
Myers received $28 a month for his service, which went to his wife and two small children, but Mrs. Myers still had to work two or three jobs to get by while he was gone. A relative cared for the children.
“In the day I would work at Otto’s for Frank Johnson, and I’d be there at 6 a.m. when he opened up,” she said. “I’d go home at 1 or 1:30 p.m. to see the children, then around 4 p.m. I’d go to Jim’s Steakhouse to work. Sometimes I wouldn’t get back home until 1 a.m. I didn’t have a car, so I’d get rides from people who worked where I did.”
Mrs. Myers said she was used to restaurant work because, among other businesses, her father had once operated a restaurant.
Myers faithfully wrote to her while he was serving during World War II, in the Philippines, Okinawa and, for seven or eight months, Japan.
“The censors would cut out words, and the letters would be like a puzzle,” Mrs. Myers said. “But I knew he was all right.”
Then, for a month, the letters stopped.
“I cried myself to sleep every night,” Mrs. Myers said. “I was scared to death. What would I do if he didn’t come back?”
It turned out that Myers had been in a hospital for a month, suffering from hives.
“I feel so fortunate that he came home to the children and me,” his wife said.
Myers was discharged from service in 1946, and in 1947 the couple purchased their current home. Myers worked at a variety of jobs, retiring from the Gas Service Company after 33 years. While her children were in high school, Mrs. Myers owned the PX, a small store selling burgers, snacks and candy across from Lakeside Elementary School. She later worked for the Kansas Teachers Credit Union.
Longtime members of the First Church of the Nazarene, they have three children — son Roy Myers, daughter Sandy Myers, and daughter and son-in-law Jo and Gary Melton. “My last count was 24 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren,” Mrs. Myers said.
“We couldn’t have had better parents,” Sandy Myers said.
Her mother feels blessed that she and her husband haven’t lost any of their children, grandchildren, etc.
“There have been close calls,” Mrs. Myers added. “Three of them were miracles, I know that for sure. God has taken good care of us.”
She and her husband are often asked their secret for a long, happy marriage.
“Everybody has problems, but you have to work it out,” Mrs. Myers said. “Even if we do fight, we make up before we go to bed and kiss each other goodnight. I’ve never left him, he’s never left me, and we’ve never thought about divorce.”
“It’s been a good life,” her husband said. “We’re going to go the rest of the way, I guess.”
“You betcha,” Mrs. Myers replied.
