By TYLER STOCKS

Washington Daily News

 

When Byron and Pat Martin discuss their marriage, a glimmer shines through, offering hope to couples struggling to work through the challenges of marriage.

Today, the Martins celebrate their 65^th wedding anniversary.

The Martins met while working at a refining factory in Illinois in 1947. Byron Martin was an engineer and worked in the chemical division. Pat Martin was a secretary.

“They (the company) frowned upon it, so we never told anybody we were dating until the wedding announcement came,” Pat Martin said.

“Back in those days, it was a little different than it is now. We worked together and we didn’t have much money, but we had a lot of fun and a lot of friends. Things got better as we got older,” she added.

When World War II began, Pat Martin moved with her parents from Ohio to Chicago, Illinois, where her husband is from.

“It changed a lot of lives and it changed our lives. My father was in defense work at the time. I was in high school and many of the boys went into the Army,” she said.

Byron Martin was 18 at the time and he attended a small college in Valaparaiso, Illinois. “I started at a relatively small school, Valaparaiso University.  That was just at the beginning at WW2,” he said. “Most of the other fellas I knew had started and heard that if you wanted to finish your schooling and not go into the service, then if you signed up for the reserves, it was possible. I, along with others, signed up with the Navy and the Navy Reserve and a year later they called us up to active duty and then they sent us to school.”

The Navy sent Byron Martin to Notre Dame, which also had a midshipman school during the war. After the war though, things changed for the better as his wife traveled all over the world with him on his business trips.

“We really got to do and see a lot of things that most couples never get to. We basically got to see the world.  When we traveled, it was a joy,” added Pat Martin.

Pat Martin also said that like any marriage, they’ve had their moments.

“We both tried to work at it. We never even thought of not being together. In those days, we didn’t even have any friends divorced. Most people in the early stages of marriage just couldn’t afford a divorce,” Martin said.

Pat Martin left the following advice to couples who are married and who are considering marriage: “Never consider divorce. We never considered it. Sure, we had arguments. I always said, we don’t fight, sometimes a little loudly. If you just know you’re not going to get a divorce, you just work it out.”