OAKLEY - Clyde and Margaret Davis have spent 74 years together with a fluid ease that is apparent even from hearing the story of their uncomplicated wedding day.
Clyde Davis, 95, and Margaret Davis, 94, will mark their 75th anniversary come Feb. 21. The two were married in 1940 in Dubuque with little fuss.
"Used to be you could just go to Dubuque and get your license," Clyde said.
Margaret remembers she was flustered the day of her wedding because her mother made her wear a hat; Margaret preferred her normal working attire at their farm north of Oakley Road.
"I had a new dress but I never wore a hat, but my mother said "You have to wear a hat,' so I had a hat," Margaret said.
Following the quick nuptials, the couple held a reception at the Bluff View dance hall in Brodhead, which burned down in December. The newlyweds had a crowd show up for their reception, requiring more chairs be sent in.
There were lots of presents for the couple. "If you didn't bring a present, you brought cigars or candy," Margaret said.
The two had known each other as both lived in the area their whole lives. But it wasn't until Margaret's senior year in high school that Clyde asked her out.
"I remember he was pretty cocky," Margaret said.
Clyde demurred and said he had his eye on her for some time. He asked her to go to watch a play at Bluff View. The two dated for a couple of years, got hitched and started a family about three years later with their first son George. A couple years later came Dennis, known as Doc, then twin boys Gary and Larry - a surprise delivery as the couple didn't know they were in for a double dose of baby boys.
"The doctor came in and said "Well, you've got two now," Clyde said.
The twins were followed by daughters Lynn and then Janice.
•••
Margaret said she and her husband have always had easy conversation. They both love sports and try to watch every Badger football game, but their biggest shared passion is fishing.
Margaret has a fear of deep water, but still fishes to her heart's content from the pier. During a summer trip to the Ozarks, she tested her limit when she didn't have enough fishing line to touch the bottom.
"In the boat you could see the tops of trees, and I said "Nope, take me to the pier," Margaret said.
Janice said her dad stayed close to his farm and reared the kids in the hay, having them chase chickens and raise hogs and milk cows. But she could always tell when it was getting time to go fishing because her father would be loading straw and pretend he was casting.
The love of fishing is evident in their home of the past 47 years - Clyde's former school house on Oakley Road. Where the building used to host 20 to 30 students, it now shelters the Davises' hand-carved horse figurines and trophy bass.
"Those two bass are mine," Margaret said, pointing to two forearm-length largemouth bass.
Below a behemoth crappie is a fingerling crappie not much larger than three quarters side-by-side.
Is that the one she was pointing at?
"No, no, no, the big ones are mine," Margaret said. "Some of the grandkids had that made that for us."
After selling their two farms just north on Oakley Road, they bought a cabin near Birchwood where they used to spend their summers. Although they haven't made it up to Birchwood for a few years, the Davises seem content with their peaceful country life.
"The kids don't trust us too far now," Margaret said.
•••
Like the slow act of fishing, the couple takes their days easy now. Clyde wakes up first and takes the bed sheet off until she wakes up, and then they make the bed together. Then Margaret cooks breakfast and they wash the dishes together.
"I married a good cook," Clyde said.
Their love for each other is effortless. They spend every waking minute with each other and never seem to bicker. Margaret said they play cards or listen to the radio.
On a recent visit, plump sparrows darted in front of the window of their home, grown fat from the daily seeds Clyde supplies them. Margaret said they get cardinals and bluebirds to stop by their home and they love to watch the birds bob and flit from ground to tree to feeder and back.
Their kids will stop by to help clean up the house and do the heavy lifting for the couple. Like most couples, the Davises love talking about their kids.
Margaret said they had a big scare when one of the twins, Gary, got measles when he was younger.
"We almost lost Gary," Margaret said. "I had the measles and the doctor took some of my blood and put a little bit of it in all the kids, kind of like a vaccine."
She said a doctor made a home visit like a "good country doctor," but anyone coming down the road had to look out because Clyde said the doctor was "flying low."
•••
Arranged on a wall in their home, six photos of the kids all done in the same grey-washed painting style hang above Clyde and Margaret's anniversary photos.
"There's the 25th and the 50th and the 60th ones," Margaret said. Then pointing at the kids' photos, "there's the twins. They both have bald spots now."
As they approach their 75th anniversary, the couple said staying together was never hard work - that was left in the field.
"We were too busy to argue," Clyde said.
Margaret said they never once wanted to split.
"Dad, tell them what you always told us," Janice said.
"Well, we couldn't figure out how to get rid of each other," Clyde said.
Clyde Davis, 95, and Margaret Davis, 94, will mark their 75th anniversary come Feb. 21. The two were married in 1940 in Dubuque with little fuss.
"Used to be you could just go to Dubuque and get your license," Clyde said.
Margaret remembers she was flustered the day of her wedding because her mother made her wear a hat; Margaret preferred her normal working attire at their farm north of Oakley Road.
"I had a new dress but I never wore a hat, but my mother said "You have to wear a hat,' so I had a hat," Margaret said.
Following the quick nuptials, the couple held a reception at the Bluff View dance hall in Brodhead, which burned down in December. The newlyweds had a crowd show up for their reception, requiring more chairs be sent in.
There were lots of presents for the couple. "If you didn't bring a present, you brought cigars or candy," Margaret said.
The two had known each other as both lived in the area their whole lives. But it wasn't until Margaret's senior year in high school that Clyde asked her out.
"I remember he was pretty cocky," Margaret said.
Clyde demurred and said he had his eye on her for some time. He asked her to go to watch a play at Bluff View. The two dated for a couple of years, got hitched and started a family about three years later with their first son George. A couple years later came Dennis, known as Doc, then twin boys Gary and Larry - a surprise delivery as the couple didn't know they were in for a double dose of baby boys.
"The doctor came in and said "Well, you've got two now," Clyde said.
The twins were followed by daughters Lynn and then Janice.
•••
Margaret said she and her husband have always had easy conversation. They both love sports and try to watch every Badger football game, but their biggest shared passion is fishing.
Margaret has a fear of deep water, but still fishes to her heart's content from the pier. During a summer trip to the Ozarks, she tested her limit when she didn't have enough fishing line to touch the bottom.
"In the boat you could see the tops of trees, and I said "Nope, take me to the pier," Margaret said.
Janice said her dad stayed close to his farm and reared the kids in the hay, having them chase chickens and raise hogs and milk cows. But she could always tell when it was getting time to go fishing because her father would be loading straw and pretend he was casting.
The love of fishing is evident in their home of the past 47 years - Clyde's former school house on Oakley Road. Where the building used to host 20 to 30 students, it now shelters the Davises' hand-carved horse figurines and trophy bass.
"Those two bass are mine," Margaret said, pointing to two forearm-length largemouth bass.
Below a behemoth crappie is a fingerling crappie not much larger than three quarters side-by-side.
Is that the one she was pointing at?
"No, no, no, the big ones are mine," Margaret said. "Some of the grandkids had that made that for us."
After selling their two farms just north on Oakley Road, they bought a cabin near Birchwood where they used to spend their summers. Although they haven't made it up to Birchwood for a few years, the Davises seem content with their peaceful country life.
"The kids don't trust us too far now," Margaret said.
•••
Like the slow act of fishing, the couple takes their days easy now. Clyde wakes up first and takes the bed sheet off until she wakes up, and then they make the bed together. Then Margaret cooks breakfast and they wash the dishes together.
"I married a good cook," Clyde said.
Their love for each other is effortless. They spend every waking minute with each other and never seem to bicker. Margaret said they play cards or listen to the radio.
On a recent visit, plump sparrows darted in front of the window of their home, grown fat from the daily seeds Clyde supplies them. Margaret said they get cardinals and bluebirds to stop by their home and they love to watch the birds bob and flit from ground to tree to feeder and back.
Their kids will stop by to help clean up the house and do the heavy lifting for the couple. Like most couples, the Davises love talking about their kids.
Margaret said they had a big scare when one of the twins, Gary, got measles when he was younger.
"We almost lost Gary," Margaret said. "I had the measles and the doctor took some of my blood and put a little bit of it in all the kids, kind of like a vaccine."
She said a doctor made a home visit like a "good country doctor," but anyone coming down the road had to look out because Clyde said the doctor was "flying low."
•••
Arranged on a wall in their home, six photos of the kids all done in the same grey-washed painting style hang above Clyde and Margaret's anniversary photos.
"There's the 25th and the 50th and the 60th ones," Margaret said. Then pointing at the kids' photos, "there's the twins. They both have bald spots now."
As they approach their 75th anniversary, the couple said staying together was never hard work - that was left in the field.
"We were too busy to argue," Clyde said.
Margaret said they never once wanted to split.
"Dad, tell them what you always told us," Janice said.
"Well, we couldn't figure out how to get rid of each other," Clyde said.