Shelby Willard New London Ohio News

By JODI MYERS
Daily Globe Staff Reporter

PLYMOUTH — After 70 years of marriage Harold and Louise Cashman couldn’t be more in love. They still hold hands and adore each other as much as they did when they first met at a high school basketball game back in 1937.

On May 1, 1938, the couple wed in a simple ceremony in Kentucky. They later had two sons and raised their family in Plymouth, living in the town for the past 68 years.

The two chalk up their long and loving marriage to mutual respect and always working things out.

“There is a lot of give and take on both sides,” Louise said. “We always worked things out and confided in each other.

“When we did disagree one of us would give in one time and the next time the other one would give in,” she said.

“Once and a while we had to declare our own territory,” she laughed.

“We always respected each other and we were never much into confrontations or arguing,” Harold said.

“We always worked it out one way or another,” Louise added.

Harold said he was smitten from the first time he met Louise.

“We met at a Plymouth High School basketball game,” he said. “I was there with three other boys and at halftime we went out on the court and were shooting baskets. When halftime was over I was walking up the center aisle and she looked up and said ‘hello.’ We just started talking and it started from there.

“When I saw her she looked like the one I had pictured in my mind,” he said. “I knew she was the one when I saw her.”

The two dated for a while and then one day they were hanging out with some college buddies when their friends suggested the couple wed.

“We were just sitting around talking and they said ‘why don’t you just get married?’ So we decided on May 1st that we would get married,” Harold said. “We drove to Greenup, Kentucky in my college roommate's car.”

Harold said they decided to go to Kentucky because back then the state didn’t have a waiting period after someone got their marriage license and they could get married as soon as they wanted.

“My family wasn’t surprised,” Louise said.

“Mine were a little surprised,” Harold added.

“But it must have worked out because we’ve been married for 70 years,” Louise laughed.

There weren’t many big, fancy weddings back in the 1930s the couple pointed out.

“I don’t go for those big (weddings) anyway,” she said.

“Those days we didn’t have much more than $10 or $15 in our pockets,” Harold noted.

The two lived on a farm on the west part of Plymouth for the first part of their marriage before moving into town.

“I was born and raised on a farm and I knew I wanted to marry a farm girl,” Harold said.

“We were both raised on a farm and we had the same interests,” Louise said.

“We lived moderately and I remember when we had our first house we would go buy groceries on Saturday night,” Harold said. “We could buy all our groceries for $5 a week. That included meat and everything.”

Both said they are pleasantly surprised to celebrate their 70th anniversary.

“I’m 95 and she’s 87,” Harold said. “We’ve just been very fortunate to have halfway decent health.”

Adoration also plays an important part in this marriage as both are constantly listing off each other’s lifetime accomplishments. Harold pointed out that his wife was an essential component in designing the current Plymouth Library, noting she designed the inside of the building and also taught kindergarten in their home for 12 years before the grade moved into the schools.

“He’s retired more times than I know,” Louise laughed. “He retied from the bank, the insurance company and from KP Trucking. He still goes back there a half a day a week to work.”

“I’d like to say that living here 68 years and being married 70 years of marriage we’ve made our contributions to the community,” Harold said. “We’ve taught Sunday School at the Lutheran Church, I served on Town Council for five-and-a-half years, served on the Plymouth School Board for nine years and the Cemetery Board for 37 1/2 years.

“She’s an artist and we both continue to work in the community,” Harold said. “I think that’s what keeps us young at heart.”

Looking at his wife, Harold smiles and says, “she’s a great woman and in the later years we’ve gotten along better...you can’t fight as good when you get older.”

Cashman's celebrate 70 years of love