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SANDY — 2020 has brought many milestones with it — lots of them challenging — but in the midst of everything going on, there’s so much to be thankful for. Just ask one Sandy couple who’s family and friends came together to celebrate their 95th birthdays and 74th wedding anniversary.
They say time flies and to celebrate just that.
Four generations lined up to wish MaryLou and Jack Raymond of Sandy a happy 95th birthday and 74th wedding anniversary.
The couple celebrated their anniversary on June 2, and their birthdays are July 12 and 16.
“We decided we would combine them all in the COVID area, because we didn’t know which ones we would be able to celebrate, so we decided to celebrate all together with a nice car parade,” said Cindy Raymond-Bailey.
Cindy and her siblings set up a tent in the middle of the couple’s front yard where they could waive to friends and family who passed by, including a couple of Sandy officers and fire department who helped to make the parade special.
“That was really great to have that many people love you that much,” said MaryLou Raymond.
Together, the couple has beat cancer twice, raised six children, and served in three major wars.
“We had fun, but it was irksome to have to have those wars,” said Jack Raymond.
In nearly a century, you could say they’ve seen the world through Jack’s 23 years of service in the U.S. Navy.
“In those days, a deployment was two years, not six months like it is now, so my mom raised us,” said Cindy.
The couple, originally from Des Moines, Iowa, settled in Utah where Jack worked for 21 years as a postal worker after his retirement from the Navy.
With a mortgage of only $86 per month, they’ve lived in the same home since 1967 — the perfect place, they said, to raise their family.
“Mom made sure they all graduated from Hillcrest High,” said Jack.
“We have 14 grand children, 33 great grand children, and 3 great great grandchildren,” said MaryLou. “We’ve had a full life.”
And to think their love story started in a roller-skating rink.
“He had blonde hair and he could roller skate good, and so I skated over to him and almost knocked him down. It was girls’ choice and that was it,” said MaryLou.
The couple even shared their secret to a happy life.
“If you marry someone, you marry them and that’s it… with the bitter and with the better,” said MaryLou. “It’s just one year after the other, and then you get up in the morning and you do what you have to do, and the next day comes, and all of a sudden, you’re 95.”
