The Oldest Married Couple in America
by Melanie Bridge
From a basement house with no indoor plumbing or electricity to an invitation only reception with the President of the United States at the Utah State Capitol, Marion and Erma Winn have experienced it all in their 77 years of marriage.
When the Olympic Torch paused at the Utah State Capitol on Feb. 7, Utah Governor Mike Leavitt asked if 100-year-old Marion and 95-year-old Erma would light the cauldron. The Winns, who are the longest married couple in the United States according to the Leo Burnett Advertising Agency in Chicago, needed a little help from Leavitt and their sons to lift the torch, but together they lit the flame that would burn on the Capitol steps.
“I kept trying and trying and I couldn’t get my arms high enough,” Marion Winn said. “It was quite a thrill, I’ve never ever seen anything like it.”
That is quiet a statement for a man who has practically seen it all, including the President of the United States. When President Bush came to Utah for his Olympic visit Leavitt invited the Winns and two of their sons to meet the President, his wife and other dignitaries including Colin Powell, Kofi Annan and Madeleine Albright.
“They (the President and Mrs. Bush) were so gracious and kind,” son Clare Winn said.
Mrs. Bush had a letter for the couple and they took time to pose for pictures and speak to them.
“I love it,” Marion Winn said. “I’m like Bill Clinton, I love the attention.”
Sitting in their home in Salt Lake City the Winns are very calm and matter of fact about their experience, but at the time they were very excited. Son Orin Winn said that when he told his father that he would get to meet the President, his father told him that it took his breath away.
“Mom got excited about the President and the torch too,” Orin Winn said. “Whenever we do this and meet the people she enjoys it.”
On Feb. 14 the Governor also honored the couple on national television at a press conference where they were given a plaque for their 77 years of marriage.
All of this recent attention has been a nice change of pace for the Winns, Clare Winn said. Some of the attention has included invitations to appear on Jay Leno and the Today Show, but because of their age the couple could not make the trip. They did, however, make the trip to Las Vegas last week where they shot a commercial for Allstate Insurance.
The Leo Burnett Advertising Agency hired a jet and flew them to Las Vegas, Orin Winn said. The commercial will involve a locket with their wedding picture inside, draped over their hands together.
Together is a good word to describe the Winns secret to their longevity. Marion Winn said that the reason they have been married for 77 years is just “making up your mind that you’re married and that you’re supposed to be together.”
The Winns have lived their whole lives together. When asked when he met his wife, Marion Winn said, “The day she was blessed I guess.”
They grew up three miles apart and went to the same school; the same church and Marion Winn even lived with her family and worked for her father for a time.
“I’ve always liked her, I knew she’d be a good wife and I was sure we’d get along,” Marion Winn said of his decision to marry Erma Winn.
On December 24, 1924 when he was 23 and she was 18, the Winns began their journey to get married. They traveled from Winder, Idaho, where they lived, in 25 below zero weather in a horse and buggy, to Preston, Idaho. From there they boarded the Bamburger Railroad for the journey to Logan, Utah where they were married in the Logan Temple.
Of the journey Marion Winn said, “we had to heat some rocks to keep us warm while we went.”
During their married years on their Idaho farm, Marion Winn was known as the neighborhood handyman who could fix anything, Clare Winn said. While Erma Winn raised their children, worked on a production line and canned food.
“My wife used to can 1200 quarts of food every winter,” Marion Winn said.
The Winns had seven children, four boys and three girls. However they lost two of their children in their early-married years. Their eldest son died of appendicitis at age 7 and their eldest daughter was killed at 18 months when she was run over by a truck on their farm, in front of her mother’s eyes.
Because of the accident Erma had a nervous breakdown for about three years and Clare Winn said she never would have made it if his father hadn’t been so attentive. Marion Winn has truly practiced his theory on how to make a woman happy.
“I always figured a woman needed lots of love,” Marion Winn said.
The Winns still have a lot of love for each other. Their children said that when one of them is sick, the other is very concerned and stays by their side. They still give each other kisses and it is very tender, Orin Winn said.
For their ages, the Winns are still very alert and interested in their world. Erma Winn has problems with her hearing so she doesn’t participate in conversations as much as her husband, but she still walks around her home. Marion, until last fall, would ride his three-wheeled bicycle around his neighborhood, but now that is too much for him. He gets short of breath easily and uses a wheelchair to help him get around.
Marion Winn said his secret to a long life is to live right and never do anything to ruin your health.
“Hard work and plenty of good food is what has helped me,” Marion Winn said. “One thing about a farm, you always have something to eat, but no money.”
Because of their ages and what they mean to their family, daughter-in-law Marlene Winn said, “for the family it was quite emotional to see Grandpa light the torch.”
For the Winns the excitement has been great, but it’s their love for each other that makes each day livable. “I can get along with her a lot better than I can get along without her,” Marion Winn said.
2001 Meridian Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
