Timeless love stories on the Palouse - The Smiths

COLFAX – Two Colfax couples, Bonny and Warren Smith, and Don and Kay Stinson, spoke about their lives together.

The Smiths currently live at the Courtyard, and have been together for 60 years.

Mrs. Smith was preparing food for her husband, before explaining that they'd been together for 60 years as of this year in August.

The Smiths met in North Dakota where Mrs. Smith had taken a summer job as a teacher with a company that had a little downtown office in Douglas, North Dakota.

"I was using a two way radio connection with the missile sites that were going in all around that area," Mrs. Smith said, explaining that her husband was a materials expediter and truck foreman at one of the sites ten miles out of town.

Mr. Smith would have to call the office often, and he'd always talk to Mrs. Smith first.

"So we met over a two way radio," Mrs. Smith said, explaining that he then came into the office to introduce himself, and see who the woman he was talking to was.

"It wasn't very long until he asked me out on a date," she said, adding that at first she said no saying he was too young and too cute.

"He was really a handsome young man, and I was just teasing him of course," she said,

When Mrs. Smith said no, Mr. Smith pulled out his driver's license to prove that he was six months older than her.

"From then on we started dating quite soon, and we were married a year and a half later," Mrs. Smith said.

The Smiths got married in the Methodist Church up on a hill in Minot, North Dakota.

Mr. Smith would then bring his wife to his home state of Washington a couple years later.

"We had a little baby girl before we came out," she said, explaining that they moved to Wenatchee to help Mr. Smith's elderly parents with their apple orchard.

"He helped his dad on the orchard, but he also took a job as a partsman downtown," she explained, adding that she took care of their baby while he worked.

After living in Wenatchee for a few years the Smiths got the opportunity to move to Eastern Washington when Mr. Smith was given the opportunity to work for a company that was putting in a trailer park down by Wawawai. Mr. Smith would supervise the building of, and manage the trailer park.

So the Smith's then moved down near Wawawai with their two little girls, where they would live for 10 years before the trailer park was closed due to the water rising.

The Smiths didn't want to leave the area, having made a home, and meeting their church family at Onecho.

Working hard to find jobs in Colfax, Mrs. Smith would get a job as a teacher's assistant, and her husband as a custodian and bus driver at Steptoe.

Mrs. Smith worked for 23 years at the Colfax school as a teacher's assistant in special education, and Mr. Smith worked as a custodian and later at a part's store. After which they retired.

For the Smith's marriage is give and take, and love is God given.

"You just have to care about the person that you are married to, and think about their best interest," Mrs. Smith said, adding that God has been a big part of their married life.

"God has been very good to us," she said, "blessed us with girls and all kinds of grandkids, and great grandkids."

When asked how she'd explain love, Mrs. Smith said "Love is definitely about being there for the person through sickness and health," adding that they've been Valentines all these years.

The Smith's love the life they've made together, and the community.

"I'm not as sharp as I used to be," Mrs. Smith said, "but I do know something about love."

She then asked her husband what he had to say about their love, "It's good," he responded.