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PrintTulsa's high school sweethearts
Who says young love doesn’t last? We talk with seven couples who turned high school love into long-lasting relationships.
“What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey, that’s a pretty good idea. I’ll give you the moon, Mary.” — Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life”
When was the first time you fell in love?
Perhaps it was the first time you saw her sipping a root beer float with her friends at the soda shop?
Or when she tossed her auburn curls back behind her shoulders and laughed with you at the drive-in movie playing at Pennington’s?
Or when he twirled you in his arms at the homecoming dance in the school’s stuffy gymnasium?
Or when he gave you his jacket when he walked you home after the first autumn football game? Was your first love a high school honey?
The following seven couples fell in love for the first time in high school — and never stopped loving their high school sweetheart. While one newlywed couple looks forward to sharing a life together and others have started their families, two golden couples will soon celebrate closer to 60 and 70 years of being together. But no matter their ages or the number of anniversaries they’ve celebrated, each couple say they are more in love now than ever before.
20s, Grant and Katie Najera
Booker T. Washington High School
Started dating: Their junior year
Years married: One
Children: None yet
How they met:
Katie: We knew each other since the sixth grade when we both went to Carver Middle School. We didn’t actually start talking until our junior year of high school. We were both in the same music class and were some of the only upperclassmen.
First date: Junior prom
What were your first impressions of each other?
Katie: My first impression of Grant was that he was funny, smart and quick-witted. He was also classy and close to his family. These were things that mattered to me.
Grant: My first impression of Katie was that she was personable, light-hearted and good-natured.
What was the first meet-the-parents experience like for you?
Grant: For me, there was no “meet the parents.” Instead, it was “meet the posse.” I had come over to pick Katie up so we could go study at Borders and her whole family — grandmother, aunts, sisters, etc. — were all there eating pizza. I was greeted by her dad, not with a hello but with a command to the family dog to, “Sic ’em, Ellie!”
What is the most romantic thing your husband/wife has done for you?
Katie: Grant has always treated me well. He used to always leave me notes and roses on my car in high school and still surprises me with things at home ... Probably the biggest thing he has ever done for me, however, was when he proposed over the scoreboard at the TU/OU football game in 2007.
Grant: The most romantic thing Katie did for me was a birthday dinner she made where everything on the menu related to her gift for me. She had bought us tickets to see Al Green and so everything on the table was green — from the placemats and napkins to the green sauce on the chicken and even the pistachio ice cream for dessert.
Favorite ritual together?
Katie: Having dinner with each other. We love sharing about our days. Some other fun rituals are walking to the TU football games and calling each other on the way to work every morning.
What do you love most about each other now?
Katie: I love that Grant is still the same person I met back in high school. He hasn’t changed; he has only become a better version of himself. He is loving, supportive, takes care of me and helps me to be the person I want to be.
Grant: I love that Katie completes me. She is my best friend.
If you weren’t with your husband, you’d be …
Katie: Much more naïve. Grant helps me see the world through a different lens and has taught me a lot about the way you can perceive things.
If you weren’t with your wife, you’d be …
Grant: A much meaner person. Frankly, I would be a much more inconsiderate, money-hungry individual.
30s, Jeff and Kerry Turner
Edison High School
Started dating: Her freshman year, his sophomore year
Years married: 15
Children: Two sons
How they met:
Jeff: Our best friends used to live in the same neighborhood, and we would run into each other at Bell’s Amusement Park. On the last Saturday before school started, all the Edison kids were talking about their class schedules … We had fifth-hour French class together.
First date: Group movie date at the old Southroads Cinema to see “The Pick-Up Artist”
What were your first impressions of each other?
Kerry: I thought he was cute.
Jeff: She was so quiet. I mean, so quiet! But really cute and she laughed at everything I said, or so it seemed like. It was fun to have someone think you were that funny.
What did you love most about him/her in high school?
Kerry: His big personality
Jeff: I always felt like she made me cooler than I actually was. That, and she made me dress a lot better.
What were your favorite wedding memories?
Kerry: The entire reception.
Jeff: I just remember how much birdseed people put in our car leaving our reception at the Garden Center. There is even a picture of us running out and someone’s hand is down the front of my shirt dropping birdseed.
What is the most romantic thing your wife has done for you?
Jeff: Before we had kids and we would try to act all grown up, Kerry would plan a dinner and we would eat by candlelight in our dining room. She would break out the china and everything. Back then we thought we were so grown up, but looking back now, it is amazing how much time we had together before we had kids and how special those times are to us now.
What is your favorite ritual together?
Jeff: For our anniversary, we always like to go get Asian food. There is no story behind it other than we have just always done it that way.
Kerry: Sunday night TV. (Don’t tell anyone, but he watches “Desperate Housewives” with me.)
Do you ever feel like you missed out on anything?
Jeff: If I went back and changed things to have dated someone else, then I change everything about my life today, like my friends, my pets, places I’ve been and, most importantly, my wife and kids. I wouldn’t want to risk any of those changes. I don’t think I’ve missed out on anything. In fact, I’ve hit on everything because I love my life with my family.
What is your secret to a long-lasting relationship?
Kerry: I’m not sure about any secrets, but I feel like any relationship is about give and take. You can’t have everything your way. Compromise is key! Or maybe it’s tolerance.
30s, Joli and Todd Beasley
Edison High School
Started dating: Her junior year, his sophomore year
Years married: 16
Children: Two sons, one daughter
How they met:
Joli: We knew of each other in junior high school but started dating when he was a sophomore and I was a junior in high school. We were only 15 years old when we started dating, so we couldn’t even drive yet.
First date: On Thanksgiving night 22 years ago to see Lights On Christmas festivities at Utica Square
What do you love most about each other now?
Todd: I love the way she is always challenging herself to grow, learn and be a better person … She runs a tight ship at home and keeps our family functioning smoothly. She is even more beautiful than she was in high school.
Joli: He is a man of strong character and integrity. He is the most unselfish person I have ever known, and he truly cherishes me as his wife. He coaches the kids’ sports teams and teaches their Sunday school classes. From what I hear, he is an amazing and personable doctor who is humble and kind to everyone he comes in contact with. And he’s hot.
What is the most romantic thing your husband/wife has ever done for you?
Joli: Todd completely surprised me with a diamond eternity band for no particular reason about two years ago. He gave it to me at dinner one night when we were on a little get-away ... Since we started dating and got married so young, I was always teasing him that if he had waited until he was older and wiser to get married, he would have had better sense to choose someone else. When he pulled out the little red box and set it on the table, he said, “I choose you.”
Todd: For our 15th anniversary, Joli planned an amazing, educational, adventurous and romantic trip to Italy. We started in Venice and then traveled to Florence, Rome, Pompeii and Positano on the Amalfi Coast.
What is the best gift you’ve received from your husband?
Joli: The night we got married, my husband gave me a journal he had been keeping for a few months leading up to our wedding. It was a collection of his memories of our courtship, his feelings leading up to our wedding day, his hopes for our future and his thoughts and life lessons he wanted to share with our children one day.
What is your secret to a long-lasting relationship?
Joli: Purposefully date and adore each other … We realize now that those are the times you rejuvenate and refresh your love for each other and remind yourselves that you are soul mates and not just roommates.
What do you wish you had known then that you know now?
Todd: Nothing more than I did at the time because I love all the pleasant surprises of the way our life has unfolded.
50s, Jill and Stan Lang
Will Rogers High School
Started dating: Her sophomore year, his senior year
Years married: 30
Children: One son, one daughter
How they met: Blind date through friends at a Key Club-versus-faculty basketball game, followed by the movie “Godzilla versus The Thing”
First date: Movie date to see “The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean”
What was your favorite place to hang out together in high school?
Jill: Pizza Hut on 11th Street. It was where everyone at Rogers High School went.
What did you wear to your prom together?
Jill: Black and white! My mom made a beautiful white chiffon dress with black trim so I could look good with Stan in his black tux pants and black-and-white plaid jacket. But, of course, the whole reason for our choice of prom wear: Stan’s Aunt Laura and Uncle Ray loaned him their white ’73 Buick Skylark with a black-and- white houndstooth top to drive to the Mayo Hotel for Will Rogers High School prom of 1973.
What did you love most about each other in high school?
Jill: The fact that he was the drummer for Dave Willets and the Fantastics, a sort of garage band, if you will, that played at our school dances. I just thought that was really cool.
Stan: Her long brown hair, blue eyes, pretty legs and short skirts!
What is your favorite wedding memory?
Jill: It’s hard to choose between all the fond memories of our families, friends and, of course, my groom, but when push comes to shove, I have a really special memory of my grandmother giving my dad the penny for my shoe. Dad had just the biggest, happiest smile on his face. My folks have always loved Stan.
Stan: Besides my beautiful bride, my best memory is of all my family who were living and shared in the celebration.
What do you love most about your spouse?
Jill: What I love most today about Stan is the same thing I loved about him 37 years ago. He has a keen, quick wit and a lively sense of humor. When he’s joking around, I love to watch his beautiful brown eyes sparkle!
Stan: The fact that she is not only my partner but also my best friend.
Favorite ritual together?
Jill: We both like to go for a drive on Sunday afternoons. We used to do it when gas was 30 cents a gallon, and we still like doing it now.
What advice would you share with high school couples today?
Jill: Take plenty of time to find your spouse. No one is timing you. Don’t feel like you need to marry the first person with whom you think you’ve fallen in love. Being able to laugh at one’s self and together is important.
What is your favorite place to hang out in Tulsa now?
Stan: Our hobby ranch, south of town.
50s, Pam and Bob Farris
Edison High School
Started dating: Their sophomore year.
Years married: 38
Children: Two sons
Grandchildren: One grandson, three granddaughters
How they met:
Bob: We are the same age and have attended the same schools together since first grade. For nine years, she was just another girl I knew in school. But in the 10th grade at Edison, we were in the same first-hour typing class. It was a huge class, and I was on one side of the room and she was directly opposite me on the other side of the room. From the first day of class that year, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. She was stunningly beautiful! I learned to type that year without looking at the keys because my head was always turned to the left watching her across the room. Life has never been the same since then.
First date: Friday night mixer after a football game in the fall of 1965
What were your first impressions of each other?
Pam: His hair is so red!
Bob: Breathtaking — gorgeous brunet hair.
What was the first meet-the-parents experience like for you?
Bob: Her mom fixed drip beef and, only having daughters, was amazed at how much I could eat. Her dad treated me like a son from the beginning.
When did you know he was “the one”?
Pam: When he came back from OU to go to TU to be near me.
What are your favorite wedding memories?
Pam: Our honeymoon in Denver and Colorado Springs.
Bob: Kissing my bride.
What is the most romantic thing your husband has ever done for you?
Pam: Having my wedding ring engraved
Did you always know you would be together?
Pam: Yes; my dad loved him.
Bob: Yes; I have never met anyone like her.
Do you ever feel like you missed out on anything?
Pam: Never
Bob: Not in the slightest.
What advice would you share with high school couples today?
Pam: Look at the relationship he has with his parents. Get a good education.
Bob: Cultivate lots of friendships; it’s all about relationships.
If you weren’t with your husband, you’d be …
Pam: I can’t imagine not being with him.
If you weren’t with your wife, you’d be …
Bob: I would be lost.
70s/80s, A. Edgar “Al” and Captola Dunn
Booker T. Washington High School
Started dating: Her junior year, his senior year
Years married: 57
Children: One son
Grandchildren: One grandson
How they met:
Al: For some reason she was very attracted to me on the bus. And we just started kind of kidding on the bus. She told me that she was going to the activity at the school. I had just left work, so I asked her, “I’m going home to take a shower. Can I meet you at the dance?” So I did.
Did you go to prom together?
Captola: We did go to a prom together. Wasn’t that the prom when the car caught fire?
Al: I was driving that night when we went to the prom … Cap was sitting next to me and all of a sudden she said, “Edgar, what is that light under the hood?” I said, “I don’t know.” So I looked again, and the car was on fire. So we jumped out, put the fire out and the rest of the night we drove around from place to place, and Jack (a friend) would sit out … so if it caught on fire again, he’d let us know. So anyway, that was our prom night. We made it to the prom.
Where did you honeymoon in Tulsa in the 1950s?
Captola: We had a two-day honeymoon … There was this hotel on Archer — Small’s Hotel … It was my first time being in a hotel. But that was our honeymoon because that following Sunday or Monday, he had to leave and go back in service (Korean War).
What do you love most about your husband/wife?
Captola: His ability to get angry and get over it. Because when I get angry, it takes me a while to get over it. But when he gets angry, in a couple of hours, it’s like nothing ever happened. With me, give me two days … And actually, my husband is a romantic person. He can be, anyways.
Al: She’s very outgoing. It’s funny because I can be out in the yard and doing something and all of a sudden something comes into my mind and I say, “I’d like to have so-and-so to eat.” I go in the house, and guess what? She’s preparing it … And also she still looks just as good now as she did then when I first met her … We’ve had a lot of fun together.
What is the most romantic thing you’ve done for your wife?
Al: I can tell you what I think was — I gave you that birthday party out on Sunset Strip (in Cali.) … It was a very popular nightclub out there, and I gave her a surprise birthday party. Out there we went to a lot of nightclubs, jazz clubs and plays and things like that.
What are your secrets to a long-lasting relationship?
Captola: There’s a lot of give and take. First of all, when you get married, you take your vows and you take those seriously. … I also think that being social with people helps you to stay together … And you have to get over some things that you might ordinarily harbor, which does nothing but give you more burden to carry.
Al: You have to learn to give and take. You’re not always right, and you’re not always wrong. You have to have that want-to attitude ... You just learn to live with each other because you want to. It’s a lot of fun when you can sit and talk to a person ... We reminisce about the things we’ve done, the places we’ve been and the people we went with.
80s, Robert “Bob” and Marjorie Weber
Salem High School (in Salem, Neb.)
Started dating: Her senior year in high school, his freshman year in college, but they had always liked each other before then.
Years married: 63
Moved to Tulsa: In 1962
Children: One son, one daughter
Grandchildren: Three grandsons, one granddaughter
Great-grandchildren: One great-grandson
How they met:
Marjorie: His father came to be minister at our church in town and I went to his church.
First date: A high school graduation banquet
What were your first impressions of each other?
Marjorie: I was going downtown to get a few supplies for my mother and met an older lady, who said, “Oh, I just met the preacher and his family and there is one boy there who you’ve got to put your eyes on.”… Well, I thought he was very pleasant. We were put together fairly close in school. He was very polite, very kind.
How did you reconnect with her when you returned from war (WWII)?
Bob: In combat, as an 18-year-old, we had a lot of growing up to do in a hurry. And we did. She was the anchor for me all during that time … I always had complete confidence in her loyalty and her love.
When did you know you were meant for each other?
Marjorie: The war had a lot to do with our strong feelings because of the fear and so many of his buddies were not coming home … He’d write once in a while when they were in hot battle. Letters were our anchor … And that was when I thought, “If anybody can go through all that he is going through — my goodness.” It just broke my heart. And I figured that wouldn’t break my heart that much if I weren’t in love with him.
Bob: I always felt like she was my wife-to-be even though I was in the military.
What places did you go in Tulsa back in the ’60s?
Marjorie: “Pennington’s for the kids … Of course, it’s moved around and died since then, but for the kids, the drive-in was quite important. There were very few drive-ins.
What is your secret to a long-lasting relationship?
Bob: Common faith is really a great benefit. The principles that are outlined in the scripture are love, respect, honesty and integrity. All of those things we try to live by.
What did you love most about him/her in high school? And today?
Marjorie: I think loyalty. And the sureness that he’s going to be his old self that I loved so much. He continued that. It just makes for a wonderful life when we get older because life is not always easy … I appreciate him so much. I really think that our children have really taught us a great deal that they have such good lives, too.
Bob: It’s so similar ... She’s still the ultimate attraction in my life even today.
Anything more you’d like to share about your love for your wife?
Bob: Marjorie gave me this (see below) in part of our married life here. And she was; that was her ideals, even when I was overseas and before we were married. That was the same principles she lived.
“If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him and always stand your ground in defending him.” 1 Cor. 13:7
It describes Marjorie. She was that way before we were married, and she’s that way today.
