LONG LASTING — Ruth and Gene Dysart have been married for almost 62 years.

Dysarts say respect, acceptance are keys to happiness in marriage

After almost 62 years of marriage, Gene and Ruth Dysart of Sparta say a long-term, loving marriage is based on respect and consideration of the other person. The Dysarts, natives of Marion, N.C. grew up within three miles of each other and attended the same school. Although Mrs. Dysart was acquainted with her husband’s sister, the two never dated until after they were adults.

On a visit to Meredith College, Mrs. Dysart saw her future husband, then a North Carolina State University student, in a stationery store. “It was the first time I’d seen him since he’d been grown,” she remembers.

While at home, awaiting his orders from the Army, Mr. Dysart said the couple started dating. “It wasn’t serious, we went out a few times,” he said. “That summer, I was there (in Marion) for two or three weeks and went to Moorehead City to work until my orders came. In August of 1943, I got my orders to go into the Army.”

While Dysart attended officer training school, Mrs. Dysart returned to a job with First National Bank and the couple wrote and called each other on a regular basis until Dysart graduated from officer training school in January 1944. Dysart visited Marion until he was scheduled to return to New York, where he attended radio school. While attending radio school, “We decided to get married together,” he said, adding,

“Things were a little bit different back then than what they are now as far as getting together and socializing.”

While attending radio school in New York, Dysart mailed the engagement and wedding rings to his prospective bride.

“I was going to radio school in Long Island, New York at the time and bought the ring I could afford and sent it to her in the mail,” he said. “She thought it (the wedding band) got lost in the mail when she opened the package.”

Further explaining, Mrs. Dysart said, “I opened the ring box and there was the diamond, but the wedding ring wasn’t there,” she said. “I just about panicked. One of the girls who worked with me took the thing that held the ring out and it was underneath there.” Shortly thereafter, Dysart came home on leave and the couple wed on Aug. 16, 1944 at a Methodist church in Marion.

“He came home on Sunday and we set the date for Wednesday,” Mrs. Dysart remembers. “It was very quickly put together. The church was full. All the townspeople were there. In fact, they closed the shops. His dad couldn’t be there.”

Gene Dysart’s father, Ernest, was a supervisor on the Fontana Dam project in Bryson City at the time.

“For our honeymoon, we went to him,” noted Mrs. Dysart.

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