A lifelong love
Edward and Jean Roper live on top of a hill on the outskirts of Trussville in the house they built nearly 50 years ago. Over time, the landscape has changed, allowing more houses and fewer trees. But for them, the view remains breathtaking.
In March, the Ropers will celebrate their 74th wedding anniversary.
The couple met 76 years ago, when they were introduced at a Future Farmers of America meeting.
“I was introduced to him … and we went to Leeds, and we had a hamburger and a Coke,” said Jean Roper, who will turn 92 in June. “That’s all you did back then.”
They were married in the home of Jean Roper’s minister in 1943, which Edward Roper described as a “big year.” It was in that same year he graduated high school and joined the military, where he served for three years. Edward Roper, now 93, retired from the Southern Research Institute after 27 years as a machinist.
Now he and Jean Roper, a retired beautician, spend their days in the house on the hill, recalling their happiest — and hardest — moments.
“I just love children, and I would have loved to have had a houseful, but it just didn’t work out that way,” Jean Roper said, adding that raising her three sons was the happiest part of her life.
Now, she and Edward Roper have seven grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren. They credit both their long marriage and their long lives to God and the good examples set by their parents.
In addition to being long, their lives have been full. Edward Roper, who grew up in Trussville, recalls plenty of memories of the area’s golden days.
“My daddy was the mail carrier, and he carried the mail about 40 years,” he said. “He used to carry the mail in that horse and buggy, and then on Sunday when he’d go to church, that horse would stop at every mailbox.”
Edward Roper also recalls the days he spent traveling, going on mission trips to South America and taking Jean Roper all over the United States.
“We’ve been to Miami; I’ve been to the Holy Land [Israel] twice,” he said. “She went with me once.”
The two actively attend Sulphur Springs Baptist Church, where Jean Roper served as the organist for 62 years and still plays for offertory on occasion.
“We’re probably the oldest … active members of the church Sulphur Springs,” Edward Roper said. “I’ll probably go to church there tomorrow.”
Over the past seven decades, Edward and Jean Roper have gone through a number of trials, including the death of their son, Dennis. But they never once considered doing it without each other.
“We’re just simple people living together, and we love each other, and we tell each other we still love each other,” Jean Roper said. “I don’t know what I’d do up here on this big hill by myself.”
Edward and Jean Roper said they don’t intend to do anything particularly special for their anniversary.
“We’ll probably go out and eat,” Jean Roper said, adding that her favorite restaurant is Red Lobster. “That’s what we usually do now.”
And for their 75th next year? Again, they have no plans for a party, nor intentions of a large celebration. Instead, they are happy to stay in their house on the top of the hill, watching the world change and enjoying the view.