Wiregrass couple celebrates 80 years of marriage
DOTHAN, Ala. (WDHN) — A Wiregrass couple celebrated a major milestone on Sunday, as they celebrated their 80th wedding anniversary.
Surrounded by loved ones at their Dothan home, George and Louise Dennis celebrated 8 decades of marriage.
They eloped in 1944 when George was 18 and Louise was 15, without their parent’s blessing across the state line in Bonifay. Their parents were not happy with the couple’s decision, but after talking it out, the families finally agreed to let them stay married and Louise’s dad gave his blessing.
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The love story however started two years before their union, when George was delivering the newspaper for the Dothan Eagle and one day he saw Louise sitting outside her grandmother’s house and from that moment he knew that she was the one for him.
George and Louise’s paths would cross again in high school.
“We just knew it I reckon,” George Dennis said. “Our spirits must have worked together. I know the Lord had his hand in it because we were in the same grade at school, so that kind of put us together. She was double promoted a couple of times and I failed the 8th grade, so that would put us down there together and I get there and I kept the other guys away didn’t I Louise?”
“Well, yes you did,” Louise answered.
Months after their union, George entered World War 2 as a soldier, where during his service he lost his leg after he tripped over a landmine while on the battlefield.
This tragedy and the loss of their adopted daughter Crystal, whom they lost to a horse accident when she was 7, did not break George and Louise’s bond. Instead, the couple persevered and opened an antique rug business, Persian Gallery, that was open for over 40 years in the Circle City.
Now 80 years after their elopement in Jackson County the couple is one of the longest married couples in the state of Alabama.
“We got room to brag,” George says.
“Oh well, it’s not our bragging,” Louise replies.
“No, it’s the Lord that took us this far and he deserves all the credit.”
When asked what the secret is to being married for almost eight decades, both Louise and George agree that their faith has guided them this far. To go along with two words that George attributes to the longevity, “Yes, dear.”
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