How a 1948 Ford Pickup Began a 65-Year-Old Love Story

The New 1948 Ford Pickup and A Long-Lasting Marriage

                James Franklin Gates moved into the role of the family’s driver when Herb, his brother, enlisted in the navy. With a hint of nervousness, but without a license, he drove the 1937 used green International pickup, the first vehicle owned by his father. Jim successfully drove his father into town. Upon returning to the farm, they pulled into the driveway at the farm and picked up the mail. Uncle Jim recalled three letters, “pkg” scrawled at the top of the daily newspaper in the mailman’s handwriting. All the family knew that those three letters indicated there was a package for the family at the train depot in Ralston. Jim and his father were soon back on the road to Ralston. Jim was quite certain that his second driving trip was to chauffeur new baby chicks home to the farm. In those days, farmers ordered their chicks in the spring. The company shipped the fluffy babies on the rail.

                My grandma, Mamie Tripp Gates, had ordered 100 chicks. She preferred Rhode Island Reds. The nondescript scribbled letters informed the Gates family that the cute, fuzzy, little fowls had arrived at the depot in Ralston. They needed to pick up the tiny, cheeping, future egg factories.

                Grandpa never learned to drive a motor vehicle since the new-fangled automobile wouldn’t obey the same commands he used to drive a team of horses, but in no way, did this prevent him from “keeping up with the times.” In previous blog postings, I have indicated that whichever child held the revered spot of the oldest at home earned the nerve-racking job of driving the family pickup for Grandpa. Even though he didn’t drive, he had many words of advice for whomever was behind the wheel.

                With fear and trepidation, Jim climbed behind the wheel and bumped their way over the “all-weather” or dirt road as they headed to Ralston. Within the hour, they had secured the precious cargo for Grandma and were jostling back to the Bend with the warm, but noisy little rust-colored chicks.

                Grandpa Gates never thought a driver’s license for young Jim was necessary until the day they were hauling lumber from the sawmill near Pawnee, Oklahoma. A highway patrolman stopped them after glimpsing the long pieces of board extending from the bed of the old 1937 International. Whenever the need for a license was mentioned, Grandpa’s thought relating to Jim driving was: We’re not doing anything wrong. Jim’s a good driver. After that encounter with the patrolman, Grandpa decided Jim needed to take his driving test and get “legal.”

                Later, Grandpa bought a new 1948 pickup.  Jim and Ralph Dooley headed to Fairfax on Saturday night on the 1948 pickup’s inaugural trip. They ended up at Jump’s. Louella Dixon, age 15, had come with her brother, George, age 17. George was more than happy to consent for Jim to take home his kid sister.

It had rained. Lou did not want any trouble when he dropped her off at their home north of Burbank. She insisted Jim let her out before he tried to cross the creek up to their house. Getting a pickup stuck after dark in the muddy creek would not have made a good first impression. She did not want to risk having to wake up her dad and make him get out of bed to pull the 1948 pickup out of the muddy creek. Instead, Lou hopped out of the new black pickup and easily found the stones so she could successfully cross the creek on foot.

Jim and Lou spent many fun nights at Jump’s Roller Inn. Lou loved to skate on Wednesday nights. Then they danced on Saturday nights. Lou described them as “fun dance parties.”

Verna Lou and Vera Lee Christy had taught Jim to dance at the house dances in the Big Bend. Vera Lee would later marry Jim’s friend, Ralph Dooley. Lou recalled Jim teaching her to square dance. Lou taught her brother, George, the two-step. George was so much taller than Lou that she had to adjust her instruction to compensate for the height difference!

Jim and Lou remembered Brice and Ralph Dooley serving as the main callers at Jump’s during the square dancing.  How frequently they heard, “Bird Hopped In, Crow Hopped Out!” They socialized with Ann Christensen, Lou’s best friend, who dated Forrest “Frosty” Goad, one of Jim’s dear friends from the Big Bend. They got acquainted with Eva Mae Garner and her date, Bunk Pease. Of course, Jim’s older brother, Herb, and his girlfriend, Billie Dooley, “ran” with them, too.

By December of 1951, Jim had joined the air force and was stationed at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas. Lou’s family had moved to Ponca City so she graduated from Ponca City High School and began working at Continental as a key punch. They decided to get married that December. They didn’t have a car, but Jim had friends.

Alph Dooley drove Jim to Ponca City to get a blood test. They arrived at the Kay County Courthouse in Newkirk, Oklahoma. The county clerk’s office was closed since it was Saturday. Thankfully, Jim had chosen to wear his uniform for his wedding day. The court clerk happened to be there and glimpsed the profile of Jim’s military hat outside the door window. She told him she wouldn’t have opened the door and issued a marriage license except for the patriotic chord that his hat struck in her heart. The court clerk indicated he needed to be 21 years old to get married. She asked, “Are you 21?” He replied in the affirmative. After all, he would be 21 in January. 

They were then married by the justice of the peace in Newkirk, on December 22, 1951. Of course, they needed two witnesses. Alph was one. The justice of the peace stepped out the door and pulled a man from the street!

Lou wore a blue dress with navy shoes. Jim, of course, chose to get married in his air force uniform. They had no flowers. Not even one photograph memorialized the day. As with many weddings in the mid-20^th century, the wedding itself was a “low-budget” affair.

They did have wedding rings. Earlier in the year, Jim had been gambling. He won enough to buy a wedding ring set for Lou from Drake’s in Ponca City. He gave Herb, his brother, a sizable amount to buy his new wife, Billie, a set of wedding rings, too.  Lou bought a wedding band for $19.95 for Jim – paying for it by making payments from her pay check that she earned at Continental.

Following the wedding, Jim and Lou spent the rest of the weekend in the Bend with Jim’s brother and his wife, Herb and Billie Dooley Gates. Then Jim returned to Sheppard Field. Lou remained at her job at Continental and lived with her parents.

By April of 1952, they decided they wanted to be together – no matter how challenging it might be. With a suitcase of towels and their clothes, they began.

Jim was stationed at Rapid City, South Dakota. The base was located 12 miles outside of Rapid City. But alas, there was no base housing.

The two newlyweds secured a room to rent from a sweet couple, Bill and Evelyn. Their home was situated about six blocks from downtown. Lou and Jim rented the room for $35 per month. Since they had no kitchen or even a hot plate, for a while, they walked the six blocks to a restaurant downtown to eat and then the six blocks back to their room.

Soon Bill and Evelyn recognized Jim and Lou as an honest, responsible couple and gave them “kitchen privileges” for an additional $5 each month. Evelyn did their laundry and even began ironing their clothes. Soon Evelyn was preparing meals and inviting this transplanted duo to join them.  As Jim recalled, this kind couple really took Lou and him in and treated this young couple like family.

For transportation, Jim found another airman stationed at the base and rode with him, furnishing gas money. Lou was employed by Buckingham Trucking as a key punch operator (data entry). She used the Rapid City bus system to commute to work.

Jim has humorously explained their early marriage began on the learn-as-you-go plan. Lou verified that it continues that way, even after six and a half decades.
One definitive event in January of 1954 marked a turning point, impacting the rest of their lives and all of their descendants. They had moved back to the Big Bend after Jim's stint in the air force. Lou recalled living in a little house they rented from Reid Morris. Their older daughter, Claudia, was less than a year old.
Lou said that they knew people from the Big Bend Baptist Church were praying for them. The pastor, Ray T. Hart, and Jess Dittmar came to visit them. The two men took their Bibles and showed Jim and Lou the way of salvation to be assured of a place in heaven. While Bro. Hart talked with Jim, Bro. Dittmar explained to Lou that a person must believe that Jesus is God's Son and came to earth to die for her sins but rose from the dead. He turned to Romans 10:9-10 which says:

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

That January day, both of them confessed Jesus as Lord, asking Him to forgive their sins, and committed their lives to follow Him. Through the years, Lou and Jim kept their grandchildren for the week of  Vacation Bible School so they could attend with Lou when she helped each summer.
Many of their grandchildren and great grandchildren have had their Falls Creek camp entry fees paid by Jim and Lou. Much like my grandma, Gladys Rainey Smith, Lou has a book documenting the salvation of each of their descendants. Lou treasures that as much as any of the keepsakes in their home.
 Lou mused that it was no happenstance that she and Jim settled in the Big Bend, but it was part of God's plan for them to  hear the truth of God's Word. She and Jim expressed deep gratitude for the persevering prayers of the people in the Bend that brought them into a right relationship with God.

Over the last several years, Lou has provided faithful support for Jim as he has courageously battled non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.  I could tell, even during one of my last visits with them, Jim’s humorous remarks or funny recollections continued to bring a smile to Lou’s face.

One of my favorite photos of Jim and Lou - taken with their great-granddaughters,
Raegan and Raychel Bennett - at the 60th Wedding Anniversary Reception for my 
parents, Edmund and Bernyce Gates -  photograph by Catherine Marie Gates LeForce 

What a 65-year-testament to love, commitment, and downright, hard work! Relationships require sacrifice. So many times, I have observed, only commitment to the relationship provides the impetus for a couple to persist tenaciously through extremely demanding circumstances. If the man or the woman focuses on his or her own desires or wishes, one of them or both will walk away from the vows they made and the legal covenant into which the two entered.

May we use the example of Jim and Lou and other couples with marriages of longevity as a springboard to build strong relationships with all the emotional resources that lie within us. With the light and love of Jesus shining through us, because of our relationship with Him, let us strengthen those family ties with those we hold so dear.

Happy 65th Wedding Anniversary to Jim and Lou!