Jackson Progress-Argus

Woodrow, 94, and Oneta Purvis, 88, celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary on Friday at Westbury Medical Care Home.

Jackson — It was 1940. Woodrow Purvis had been dating Oneta for a little over year, after returning from an Army stint at the Panama Canal.

On one of his trips home to Moultrie from his station at Fort Benning, he talked to her about getting married.

“She thought I was kidding her ... I said, ‘No I’m serious,’” Purvis said. “I told her next Friday, when I come down, to be ready.”

And she was.

Woodrow and Oneta Purvis were married by an ordinary, the precursor to a modern probate judge, on Feb. 3, 1940. She was 15. He was 22.

On Friday, at Westbury Medical Care Home in Jackson -- which they both have called home since October -- the couple celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary.

Woodrow and Oneta Purvis say they managed to have fun throughout their marriage, and to keep busy with their children.

“If you love each other, you’re supposed to be married,” said Oneta, now 88. “We had a fun family. Nobody ever fussing and fighting ... We just have a normal life but we enjoy it.”

The couple has four children, Gloria Pate, 71; Woodrow “Buddy” Jr., 69; Wanda Ross, 65; and Tony Purvis, 64.

Woodrow Purvis, who will be 95 next month, said his oldest son was born the night he sailed for Europe to fight in World War II. “And I didn’t see him until he was 3 years old,” he said.

When he returned from the war, Woodrow said he worked for Ford Motor Co., for six years, before starting his own business as a mechanic. Oneta raised the children at home while running her own beauty shop.

“They both worked hard to provide,” Wanda Ross said. “They have been excellent parents.”

The couple lived in Moultrie until moving to Jackson nine years ago to be closer to their children. In October they became residents of Westbury Medical Care Home, where they share a room with side-by-side beds and matching recliners. Woodrow can often be seen pushing Oneta in her wheelchair as they make their way to meals and activities.

“She’s just what I wanted,” Woodrow said of all their years together. “We just enjoy being with each other.”

Asked what she loves most about her husband, Oneta said, “He’s good to me and my family.”