THE WEDDING -- Now or Never!

The wedding date was set for Saturday, December 3rd ... why wait so long?  Marv needed to draw his monthly paycheck on December 1st. When he only received $10 Marv called Martha to tell her there would be no wedding that month. She said "now or never" ... so Marv borrowed $70 and Martha had saved $60 and the wedding was on.

The Brethren Church was the site for the wedding and Reverend Tinkle performed the ceremony on December 3, 1949. Guests included Maude Adams (the bride's mother), Robert Adams (brother), Marcia Adams (sister), Cleo & Wally Miller, Ruby & Homer Miller. Standing up with the wedding couple were Eileen & Max Born. John Devitt (Marv's buddy) was supposed to be the best man but he wasn't allowed because he wasn't a Protestant. In fact Marv had to work to get permission to get married following his recent divorce, but Rev Tinkle agreed when he learned Marv's first wife was already remarried.

The bride wore a white silk dress (street length) and a white cloche hat with a large curled feather. Unfortunately there are no pictures from the happy day.

Cerro Gordo Brethren Church (1942), Known in Cerro Gordo as "The Little White Church"

The reception was coffee at the Victory Cafe in Cerro Gordo. When they came out of the Victory the car doors were tied shut as part of the shiveree so they had to break in before heading off to Decatur for a short honeymoon. Marv headed back to Chanute the next day.

Dad's Story:  "Out of the fire into the frying pan", my mother was not coming to the wedding. I'd just been divorced a short time and she thought I was making a big mistake rushing into another marriage. I was married in my military uniform at the church in Cerro Gordo. We parked the car in the yard at Martha's and walked to the church. Martha had a hat with a feather and it shook all during the ceremony ... it tickled me. After the ceremony we went up town to have coffee.

It was raining and the "suicide" doors on the car were tied shut. After we got into the car we only made it a few miles down the road before the car quit. They had pulled the wires loose on the distributor and they had fallen out. So there I was in the rain, in the dark, putting the wires back into the distributor but we made it to our motel in Decatur.

Mom's Story:  I don't remember much, just walking down the aisle and standing in front of the preacher. Didn't spend any money on the wedding except to pay the preacher. I bought my own wedding ring for $10 and it's still going good 64 years later. Marv did give me his mother's engagement ring (from his father, Forest Wood) when we went to visit his parents in Kenosha a few weeks later.