Kenneth and Billie Ruth Wooldridge will celebrate 61 years of marriage on April 14, 2011.
As the happy couple sat across from me, all I could do was smile in admiration. “I had a brand new car,” Kenneth Wooldridge chuckled when I asked how he and his wife, Billie Ruth met. Billie Ruth explained, “I worked at the local drug store, Carpenters’s, and he came in one day. That was the beginning. We dated for about nine months and married on April 14, 1950 at the parsonage of First Baptist Church in Port Lavaca.” The young couple lived on the outskirts of Port Lavaca for several years before settling in Seadrift where they have remained for over 50 years. Kenneth was born in Long Mott, to the late Everett and Alma May Coleman Wooldridge. Billie Ruth was born in Edinburg to William Leonard and Mary Ann Ezell O’Briant.
When I asked the couple what led to their successful marriage of over 60 years, Billie replied, “You have to work at a marriage; it doesn’t come easy. For us, I think it’s been having God in our lives all these years.”
“No one is perfect; no marriage is perfect,” Kenneth said, “but we do a pretty good job of it.”
As the couple reflected on special moments in their life, Billie remembered when they were a part of the Volunteer Christian Builders. They would move to different locations, such as San Francisco, in a motor home every two weeks, and volunteered to build churches for several years.
“We did a lot of camping and traveling in the RV,” Kenneth said when I asked what their favorite pastimes were. “Mountain View, Arkansas was one of our favorite places to which we traveled.” Aside from camping, Kenneth also enjoyed fishing. Kenneth remembers, “On one fishing trip, Billie had a bunch of fish on a stringer; she went to lift the stringer up and a shark had gotten to them.”
“I didn’t want to go out after that,” Billie commented, “but where you see one of us, you see the other. One never goes without the other.”
One thing I learned quickly – their family is very much apart of their lives. Daughter, Kathy Smith and husband Kenneth live with the happy couple. Kathy and Kenneth have two sons, Shawn and Brad. Shawn and wife, Janet, have five children, while Brad and wife, Pam, have three children. Kenneth and Billie Ruth’s son Gregory and wife, Grace, help them and live right next door. They have two children, Zachary and Stephanie, plus two foster children, Brianna and Joey. Stephanie has since married Zachary Martinez, “It’s funny, we have two Kenneth’s and two Zachary’s,” Billie said. “We get good care from all of them. We are lucky because you come to a time in your life you’re going to have to lean on somebody.”
Kenneth is also related to Dorothy Geraldine (Williams) Wilson; they are cousins. I interviewed Dorothy about a year ago and really enjoyed her family stories. Dorothy’s father, Dave Williams, was the town’s “milk cow herder.” Kenneth smiled and said, “They were real cowboys back then!”
This lovely pair deserves nothing but happiness. Their lasting vow to each other should inspire us all to take Billie’s advice, “Try to think of the other person’s feelings.” Kenneth nodded as Billie spoke, “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
To all of the Dolphin’s readers, we wish you a Happy Valentine’s day filled with all the best! To Kenneth and Billie, Happy Early 61st Anniversary! Till next time…
