Owens celebrates 70 years of marriage

Neal and LaVonda Owen recently celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary, Feb. 7, 2023.

They first met as high school students riding their school bus in Rush Springs. Neal Owen and LaVonda Kirkpatrick married Feb. 7, 1953, in the parsonage of the Missionary Baptist Church in Rush Springs, with the Rev. J.D. Shinn officiating the ceremony.

For the first 14 years of their marriage, they lived in Duncan. He also served in the U.S. Army in Germany during that time. After he returned from overseas duty, he worked for Halliburton. Mrs. Owen was a switchboard operator with Southwestern Bell in Duncan, for eight years. “Number please,” she said was her usual answer to every incoming call. When she became a full-time homemaker, they moved to Mr. Owen’s family farm, located southwest of Rush Springs, which is where he was born and raised. She grew up about three and a half miles from their current home.

He attended schools at Star and Rush Springs, and graduated from Rush Springs High School. Mrs. Owen attended schools in College Mound, Corum, Portland, Oregon (for a short time), and then returned to Rush Springs, where she also graduated.

They have two children, David of Duncan, and Cheryl Morris of Oklahoma City, and five grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Their children presented them with a custom photo book for their 70th anniversary. It is filled with photographs highlighting their entire marriage, from everyday life to family gathering portraits.