Couple celebrates 70 years together

Charlie and Nettie Johnson, of Fulton, hold up a resolution presented to them under the Missouri State Senate on Saturday at the American Legion in Jefferson City. The couple celebrated their 70th anniversary in June.
Charlie and Nettie Johnson, of Fulton, hold up a resolution presented to them under the Missouri State Senate on Saturday at the American Legion in Jefferson City. The couple celebrated their 70th anniversary in June.

Charlie Johnson is 90 years old. His wife, Nettie, is 88. They have spent 70 of those years as husband and wife. And they don't think that's such a big deal.

"We know four other couples in our class (celebrating 70th anniversaries)," Charlie said. "One of them (the couples) stood up with us at our wedding."

Maybe it has something to do with the water in Auxvasse, where they graduated from high school together in 1947.

Charlie's a pretty quiet guy until you get him talking about his wood crafts and painting. They're lovely, and worth talking about.

Nettie is the opposite.

"I'm a talker," she said.

Nettie was born near Bachelor, growing up on a farm. Her parents were Harry Jennings Robinson and Annie McCowen.

"There used to be a post office there," she said. "There's still a cemetery there."

Her father raised hogs and sheep. They moved to Colorado then moved back. When she was young, Nettie worked at drug stores in Auxvasse and Mexico.

Charlie grew up in the McCredie area. His parents were C. Herman Johnson and Leota Deardorff. As a teen, Charlie worked as a farm hand.

"He worked his junior and senior years as a farm helper for the Rountrees - that's where he learned to drive," Nettie said.

They met in eighth grade.

"We started dating in our sophomore year," Nettie said. "I think we went on a scavenger hunt. We didn't start going steady until our senior year."

In May 1947, they graduated from high school. On June 17, 1948, they wed.

"We got married in Fulton at Brother A.F. Larson's home," Nettie said. "He married all my folks. He was so proud he wanted to put it in the paper. He married a lot of our friends, too."

Nettie went to work at the dime store. Charlie worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation as a mechanic. They had one son, Kenneth Lee Johnson, who attended Linn Technical College and worked for the state Department of Transportation. He and his wife, Linda, had a son, David Lee Johnson. Sadly, Kenneth Lee Johnson died in 2004 at the age of 54. David Lee Johnson and his wife, Amber, have a 3-year-old boy, Ben.

"So there are six of us," Nettie said.

They still live on their own south of Fulton in a lovely country setting. They loved to travel in their younger years, starting off with a Volkswagen camper then a 1973 Chevy van.

"We also rode motorcycles," Nettie said. "We had a Suzuki. I got my permit. We were going to buy another (motorcycle), but then he said, 'Let's just get a bigger one.'"

They traveled to Colorado, but their bike wasn't powerful enough to get up the mountains carrying both of them. Nettie remembers having to climb off and hike up.

"We loved the mountains," she said, adding that sometimes on their travels to the Rocky Mountains they'd rent a Jeep and go up the hills.

Charlie said he enjoyed having Nettie sitting behind him on the bike, arms wrapped around his waist. In 1980, they got in a motorcycle wreck. Next, they got an MG Midget, a tiny sports car with a lot of sass.

Like many other Fulton residents, Charlie worked for a time at the Fulton Sun - called the Sun Gazette back then. He was a pressman for several years. He made elegant wooden shelves with a scrolling technique so Nettie could display her collection of crystal bells in what they call their "bell room."

They still go to dances at the Callaway Senior Center.

"We love to dance; he's very musical," Nettie said. "We danced for years."

Charlie laughed and said they don't dance on tables these days; instead, he mostly taps his foot.

They said they both feel pretty good. "If it wasn't for the arthritis," Nettie added.

When Charlie started getting tremors, it started interfering with everything, even how he ate. He went to Columbia and had brain surgery and said that helped tremendously.

"The brain surgery for the tremors worked and he got a pacemaker, too," Nettie said. "Other than that, we're in pretty good shape."

There's been plenty of fun in this long-time relationship.

"It's a lot of give and take," she said of their successful marriage. "We enjoy doing everything together. The worst year was when we lost our son, but we have a wonderful daughter-in-law."

They don't argue.

"We've always gotten along," Nettie added. "We disagree once in a while, but we get over it."

Their friend, Mary Lou Patterson, arranged a sock hop at American Legion Post 5 in Jefferson City on Saturday with a moment and a proclamation honoring the anniversary couple.

"They're just like little love birds," Patterson said. "I met them a long time ago at a dance. They love to dance."

Nettie and Charlie Johnson obviously love each other.

"She's my angel," Charlie said. "She takes care of me."

"Well, we take care of each other," Nettie added.