Westerville Couple Says Commitment, Faith Sustain 72-Year Marriage

It’s common knowledge that not all marriages are built to last. So when a couple at the Westerville Senior Center walks by having celebrated seven decades of wedded bliss, you take note.

Ron and Doris Johnson have called Westerville home since Labor Day 1956. Their love story began a few years earlier in a Columbus church, just three days after Ron arrived at Lockbourne (now Rickenbacker) Air Force Base with the (then) U.S. Army Airforce. The southeast Pennsylvania native decided to check out a church on Ohio Avenue. It was not quite as close to the base as he'd hoped, but fate has a way of forcing one’s hand where destiny is concerned. It was in that church that he spotted a young lady in the choir. Six months later, they were married.

Between then and now is a life filled to the brim. Ron, an aircraft mechanic and turbo supercharge specialist, had a more than 22-year military career including activation during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He spent the majority of his service with the Air Force and the last five years or so in the Navy Reserve, retiring as a chief petty officer. He also worked for The Ohio State University as a machinist for the Physics Department, retiring after 33 years. Doris’ career took her to the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation and what is now WestCamp Press. There were babies and homework, Scout meetings, bowling leagues and travels to all 50 states (most by motorhome) and Europe. Today, the couple remains active with their family, in their local church and at the Westerville Senior Center where they enjoy walks on the track and lunches.

Seventy-two years, 3 children, 9 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren later, one thing is abundantly clear– the Johnsons’ cup runneth over.

The couple playfully answered the following questions.

Q. Why did you choose to settle in Westerville?

Doris: We always drove through Westerville seeing nice, green trees on either side of State Street and it always looked so nice and peaceful. The other thing is Ron had come from a small town and we were living in Columbus at the time. He wanted to move where he could talk to people in Uptown and see people he knew.

Ron: We liked the look of the place.

Q. Tell us how you first met.

Doris: We met after he came here with the Air Force to Lockbourne Air Force Base. He came to church the very first Sunday that he was in Ohio, and so we met that day.

Ron: Oh, yeah. When the choir came in, she was the last one. I just locked in on her.

Q. What was it about Doris that caught your eye?

Ron: Maybe it was the way she walked in there. No, I don't know. It just seemed like, ‘I've got to meet her.’ And then I was asked to come on a Thursday night to sing in the choir. Well, I wasn't interested in joining the choir; I didn't sing that well. But she was in the choir.

[Ron to Doris] So then what evening did we take a drive?

Doris: Well, you told my brother to get a group together to go bowling, I think, on a Saturday, but my brother didn't do anything about it. So when Ron came, nobody was going bowling so he and I went to a movie.

Ron: And what did we see?

Doris: “The Greatest Show on Earth.” We drove to Lancaster and back and we talked about his life and my life, and then we dated.

Q. Do you remember how you felt after that first date?

Ron: I want to see her again. Soon.

Doris: Oh yeah. I was anxious to see him again.

Q. So who spoke to whom first?

Doris (giggling): I went to you, probably, because I was looking for you.

Q. And what was your first impression of Ron?

Doris: Oh I thought, ‘Hey. This is interesting!’

Q. Did you know you would be with her forever after that first meeting?

Ron: Pretty much. It didn’t take long.

Doris: That was in March and we got married in October.

Q. You had both found your person.

Ron: Yeah, I did.

Doris: I did too.

Ron: Right away.

Q. Can you describe your marriage in one or two words?

Doris: Love.

Ron (whispering to our interviewer): Wonderful love.

Doris: What did you say?

Ron: I’m not gonna tell you, lady. (laughs)

Doris: So we’ll have to wait and read it.

Q. And why did you pick those words?

Ron: Because it’s true.

Q. Here’s the million-dollar question: What is the secret to a marriage lasting more than seven decades?

Ron: Respect for each other.

Doris: …and commitment, commitment, commitment.

Ron: Commitment; oh my.