ALTAMONT — Willard, 95, and Jeanette Kopplin, 94, each sit in a recliner holding hands on a recent afternoon at Lutheran Care Center in Altamont. It’s how the two can often be found spending their time together.
Their relationship goes beyond words after Jeanette suffered a stroke a year and a half ago. Since then, she has lived at the nursing facility. Willard, who still lives at home, visits her for hours every day.
Although she can no longer verbally communicate like she used to, her facial expressions and occasional words let him know she is listening, whether it’s to their favorite song “Wildwood Flower,” or another country favorite they spent nearly every weekend dancing to, or the simple sound of his voice.
Every Thursday at the Lutheran Care Center, the couple can also be found attending church together, which is how they met more than seven decades ago. They celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary earlier this month.
They both attended a youth group at St. Paul Blue Point Lutheran in Altamont in eighth grade, but it wasn’t love at first sight, Willard admits. It wasn’t until a few years later the two would embark on a romantic relationship.
Willard’s neighbor began dating Jeanette’s sister, and sometimes Jeanette joined them for dances. One Saturday night, Willard went along with the three to a restaurant that sold used records near Vandalia. They could buy records for a dime then, Willard recalls. Some memories of that night are a bit fuzzy for him, like the town’s name where the restaurant was. But he clearly remembers that by the time they returned to Altamont, he was in love.
“I just got a hold of her arm, and I said, ‘She ain’t going home with you, but I’ll take her home,” he said he told the other couple.
The four continued double-dating, and Willard and Jeanette started a steady relationship.
Then, during a birthday party for Jeanette at her house, Willard asked her to marry him.
“I spent all the money I had on the ring,” he said.
Willard said he wasn’t worried about what her answer would be. She immediately said yes. A year later, on Feb. 4, 1951, 20-year-old Willard and 19-year-old Jeanette were married. The two lived in a house on farmland Jeanette inherited from her parents in Altamont.
A year after they were married, Willard was sent to Germany as an Army National Guardsman. It marked the only time the couple spent apart. Willard wrote to her every day.
Following his service, Willard worked at the Norge plant in Effingham, while the couple continued farming. They relied on each other for support. Willard notes they couldn’t have made it farming if it weren’t for Jeanette. The couple had two tractors, and Jeanette drove one of them just like Willard did.
“She’d go out to the field during the day, and when I got home from work, she’d have supper ready. We ate supper, and then we’d both go to the field again,” he explained. “That’s the only way we made it.”
The two were very social. They went to dances at the VFWs in Altamont and Effingham every Saturday night for over 60 years.
Judy Milleville, the oldest of the couple’s three daughters, recalls going along with them on Friday nights when they were young.
“So, we grew up every weekend, pretty much, going to hear music and dancing,” she said.
The couple would dance to almost every song. They loved dancing so much they would celebrate anniversaries by throwing a dance party. It’s a tradition that continued with Milleville and her sisters.
“We all had dances when we got married,” she said, adding it wasn’t the trend then.
Milleville and her sister, Deb Winter, say their parents were role models for each of their own marriages. Each of them has been married for over 50 years.
Milleville said her parents did pretty much everything together.
“Whatever he was doing, I mean, she was out there right beside him,” she said. Whether it was working on the farm, going to dances, or attending church.
Jeanette would even pick Willard’s clothes out for him to coordinate with hers any time they went out, the family notes.
“I still don’t know what kind of shirt to wear with black pants or green pants or khaki pants,” Willard said.
The couple lived together in their home until Jeanette’s stroke. Afterward, Willard stayed by her side every night in the hospital and then as she moved to a nursing facility until she came to live at the Lutheran Care Center.
Not having her at the home they lived in together for over 70 years has been difficult for Willard, who chokes up when asked how much he misses her not being there.
“Very,” he responds.
He is at the Lutheran Care Center for at least four hours every day. Although Jeanette struggles to communicate, when he gets ready to leave for the night, he said she lets him know she doesn’t want him to go.
“A couple of weeks ago I put my coat on getting ready to leave and she looked at me, and she says ‘Where you been?’” he said.
More than just his wife, Willard said Jeanette has been his best friend. When Jeanette is asked if the same is true for her, she looks over at him and smiles.