A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN — OR NEAR ENOUGH

Most Monettians’ lives have been touched by Dr. Ralph and Mary Scott in some fashion or another. Both are educators, and have undoubtedly helped shape the hearts and minds of countless students.

Both have dedicated their time and efforts to a number of service clubs - so even if you’ve never met Ralph or Mary in person, if you’ve ever stayed at Cox Monett Hospital or received help from the Lions Club for your eyes or ears, chances are, they’ve impacted your life too.

Ralph and Mary have both been active in the Methodist Church and one or both of them were instrumental in everything from helping to get the Monett YMCA up and running to setting up the original Ozark Festival

Orchestra, to working on getting the new hospital built to helping organize the Methodist preschool - and the list goes on, and on, and on.

Another thing many may not know, is that from the first day they met, this couple was a match made in heaven, or near enough.

As young adults in Arkansas, both Ralph and Mary were active in their home church, where Mary met Ralph’s parents when she was a college freshman. At the time, she was living in Russellville, Ark. and Ralph was in Ft. Smith, Ark.

“Ralph’s mother and father, for one reason or another, thought he should be dating me, and not someone else,” Mary said. “So one day, he sent me a letter. It took me a couple weeks to write back.”

Ralph tells it a little different. According to him, he was in a new community, without many friends or lady friends to call on. One day, he filed that complaint with his mother, who gave him a name and address – that’s when the letter to the future Mrs. Scott got dropped in the mail.

This day and age, many of us know the feeling of hitting that refresh button on our email or DMs, hoping we got a response after shooting our shot. Imagine checking the mail every day for a week or more, hoping to get a letter back from the lady or gentleman you’re hoping to court.

Lucky for Ralph, Mary did end up responding, and they set up a date: dinner and a movie. But neither could have known what was to come. It’s fitting that the couple were brought

Story by Mike Gervais

together through their connections to the church.

“We met on a blind date. Our first date was on Christmas Eve,” Ralph said. “I don’t even remember what we did (dinner and a movie, according to Mary), but I know the Catholic Church there in Arkansas was all lit up for Christmas, and they were getting ready for their midnight mass. I asked Mary if she’d ever been to a midnight mass before. I hadn’t, and neither had she, so we went.”

Mary recalls that the young Methodist couple snuck into the back, where they froze through the service as the doors continually opened and closed.

Ralph remembers that the entire service was conducted in Latin. Mary had four years of Latin under her belt at that point. Ralph spoke not a lick. And she didn’t translate for him.

That was it. That was the beginning for one of the most respected power couples in Monett – dinner and a movie that went so well, they wanted to hold on to the night as long as possible, and found one of the few places still open late into the night on Christmas eve.

They continued to date for a year and the following December Ralph proposed. The following August, on Aug. 14, 1949 to be specific, they wed, with Ralph’s father (one of the match-makers) as the best man.

“We fell in love on that first date, or at least had very strong feelings,” Ralph said.

From there, the couple started building a family that would ultimately include three children. Early on, Mary was a homemaker, and Ralph was a teacher. When the state of Arkansas began discussing reducing the school year to eight months a year, they decided to pull up stakes and find a more secure school district.

“We looked at every small town with less than 10,000 people in a 200 mile radius, and sent letters to every school district,” Ralph said. Monett was one that responded, and here they landed.

When their oldest child was in high school and the youngest was in first or second grade, Mary went to work for the school district serving as a tutor for migrant students, working one-on-one with new transfers to the school district to get them up to speed with local curriculum.

Ralph worked as a teacher at the high school and junior college, and coached just about any sport he could.

Over the years, working in the same field, gave the couple a lot to talk about, and a lot to learn.

“Working in the same field, we grew together,” Mary said. “Ralph was quiet, he didn’t talk much, but when he did, I understood.”

“My wife is undoubtedly an unusual person, in that, even today, she understands if a wide out didn’t run the right route, and she’ll tell me. One day she told me I didn’t know how many football games she’d gone to when I was coaching. She even accused me of planning my Monday practices during Sunday church services.”

And outside of their home and career is all the volunteer and service work the couple is a part of.

“It’s just part of our make-up,” Mary said. “When the boys started Boy Scouts in grade school, I came home a den mother,” Mary said.

“And I came home an assistant scout master,” Ralph added.

“With a lot of our (service) work, we’ve kind of stayed a part,” Mary said.

“I’ve been a Lion for 50 years, and I can’t get her to join, and she hasn’t gotten me into the hospital auxiliary yet,” Ralph added.

But the couple says that’s one unique aspect of their relationship. While Ralph worked in a classroom, Mary was educating students on a oneon-one basis. While Ralph was dedicating his time to helping people pay for eye and ear care through the Lions, Mary was helping to care for patients at the local hospital through the auxiliary. They have similar interests, and a similar drive to help. And while they have worked side by side, arm-in-arm on many projects, they’ve also maintained their independent roles and interests.

“We’ve kind of stayed apart with that work, but we’re always very supportive,” Mary said.

But there is no secret to their success.

“I’m 95 and she’s 93, and we’ve been married for 73 years,” Ralph said. “We’ve maintained our belief in God as our Creator and Jesus Christ has taught us to live in peace and harmony.”

Mary said their relationship is built on a foundation of support.

“You have to be honest with each other and support each other,” she said. “If you see something that needs to be done a different way, suggest that.”

“And you have to be understanding,” Ralph added. n

by Muneeba Hasan

Muneeba Hasan is a first-generation Pakistani American who can fluently speak Hindi, Urdu, and English. Born and raised in Arizona, she graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics. She is currently completing her Masters in Clinical Nutrition Diagnostics at Cox College in Springfield, Mo. She is passionate about nutrition and health and strives to foster a career in educating individuals about the benefits of eating a well-balanced diet and promoting a healthy lifestyle.