Couple celebrates 73rd anniversary

CELINA - Sunlight seeped into Paul and Rita Linton's Celina home through tall, floor-to-ceiling windows in mid-December.

The extra light warmed the room, but it wasn't necessary. The room was already light and warm as the Lintons spoke about their relationship and love for each other. The couple are celebrating 73 years of marriage today.

"It doesn't seem that long ago," Rita Linton, 91, said with a tinge of surprise at how quickly time has passed.

The pair met through mutual friends when they were in high school. Both are from Van Wert County and lived through World War II. Paul Linton said his parents would ration gasoline like many families did at the time. Most families would make one trip into town, usually on a Saturday, and let their kids run around Main Street while they ran errands.

Rita Linton was a regular at the roller rink, and Paul Linton had his dad's car the night they met. He offered to drive her home and later offered to take her on a date on Easter Sunday.

Dates on holidays are a pattern with the Lintons. Paul Linton, also 91, said his parents married on Christmas Day and he wanted the same thing. The best they could do was Christmas Eve.

The couple married on Christmas Eve, 1947, when they were both 19. The two were wed at a parsonage in Van Wert, with two of their friends as their only witnesses.

Rita Linton described the day as simple and relatively plain. Her father had died, and she would never have asked her mother to help pay for the special day.

Quick-witted and more outspoken than her husband, she said looking back it may have been wiser to have a different wedding date. People already had plans, no photographers were available, and they didn't really have a honeymoon planned. Paul Linton said they spent their wedding night in Columbus and had wedding photos taken a few weeks afterward.

"It was kind of dumb," she said with a chuckle. "The holidays are always busy, and you cheat yourself out of a gift."

The two lived with Paul Linton's father for a while until they found a place of their own to rent.

"It was a shack, but we were happy," he said.

The Lintons have cycled through several different career paths throughout their lives. While they lived in their "shack," the couple raised chickens and Paul Linton farmed about 80 acres for a local farmer until he died.

After that, they worked at an apple orchard in Mendon. The Lintons said while the working conditions weren't their favorite, they enjoyed getting their three young children involved in making cider or picking apples.

The couple moved to a farmhouse near Celina in the early 1960s, where they were proud to see their children blossom and thrive. Paul Linton worked at the New Idea Co. for more than 22 years, while his wife worked at National Seal and later as a nurse at Van Wert Hospital for 14-15 years.

Eventually, Paul Linton began work at Tractors Inc. and worked his way up the ranks from shop worker to president and then became a major shareholder of the company.

After he retired he took up woodworking, which he has done for more than 20 years. Rita Linton gushed about how her husband makes gorgeous stained bowls, decorations and containers, which largely go to the grandkids nowadays.

She said she could be a lot to handle, especially when the pair were in the early stages of their relationship. Sensitive, extroverted and outspoken, the retired nurse said she and her husband had to learn how to communicate effectively.

Paul Linton agreed. The complete opposite, he is more soft-spoken, not one to complain and hasn't been known to share his feelings readily.

"One thing that's very important is to share your life, your feelings, with each other," she said. "That's not to say you'll get your way all the time. But you'll be heard. Talking and sharing is part of being married."

The Lintons were realistic about their relationship. A successful 73-year marriage doesn't come without its hiccups or arguments. If the two did have a spat, Rita Linton said they made a point of never going to bed mad at each other.

"There are times you get aggravated, but try not to go to bed angry," she advised.

Their faith has also played a large role in their relationship. Before the pandemic, the two went to church every Sunday at Grand Lake United Methodist Church. Paul Linton served on several different committees, ushered almost every Sunday and has been a trustee.

Rita Linton related back to the Bible when she spoke of what she loved most about her husband.

"He has the patience of Job," she said warmly. "He'd have to have (patience) to live with me. I speak how I feel. If something hurts me, I let him know. I don't hold it in. And he may not give me the right answers, what I want to hear, but he has the patience of Job."

Paul Linton attributes his success - as a father, a businessman and a husband - to his wife. Knowing she was raising the kids to be good people, keeping the lights on at home all while finding time to work gave him room to succeed.

"She raised the kids, kept the books, kept the bills paid," he said. "I could do more work and be more successful with her help at her home."

A spouse is a person you cherish for a lifetime, despite bumps in the road and obstacles in the way. Paul Linton said even now at 91, some things he wishes he would have done differently to treat his wife the way she deserves. He advised young couples to keep the future in mind.

"You look back at all the things you should have done for her that you didn't," he said. "It's kind of late now to do it. But you look back, there's a lot more things you should have done for your partner than what you actually did."

The Lintons have shared a lifetime of love, along with three children, eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

"They're all over the place," Paul Linton joked.

Getting the family together to celebrate Christmas and their anniversary is out of the question this year thanks to the pandemic. However, the two are more than happy to spend their time celebrating by thanking God for their long, happy lives together.

"We share our successfulness and being here to God," Rita Linton said. "Give him the credit (for) keeping us here and keeping us going."