John and Bonnie Krueger

Advice to the new couples:

"We were young when we got married but neither of us ever believed that divorce was an option. You must decide to talk and listen to each other…always compromise, never try to win."

Nominations:

The marriage of John and Bonnie Krueger can be defined as a pinnacle of exceptional union and teamwork. They married young, she was only 15 and he was 18 (yes, they lied to county clerk about their age) and will celebrate 54 years of marriage in April. They both worked sup up to sun down and established their family while taking care of their own parents.

After living in Oklahoma for a number of years, my grandparents bought some land south of Blanchard. Everything they have on their little homestead, known as Krueger Kountry, was built by the hard-working hands of John.

Times were tough and money was scare and there were many mouths to feed (five children), but they never lost sight of their faith in God and his ability to do wonderful things. They never had the luxurious things in life, but they had the necessities and made a happy, fulfilling life for their family. They always did and still continue to give to others regardless of the circumstances. The simple acts of kindness that they have done for others would be a list a mile long.

Tragedy struck their marriage when their oldest son was killed in 1990. While his murder remains unsolved, this horrible tragedy (that would tear apart some families) brought John and Bonnie closer together. They never stopped believing in God or each other.

When John suffered a heart attack, Bonnie vowed to change her cooking of forty-some-odd years to include more healthy choices for both of them. She vows to live to 100 and he simply vows to live on something other than chicken every day of the week.

These two people have consistently modeled a healthy and inspirational marriage. A unity that seems to be unwavering, a love that seems to be an eternal flame of fire, camaraderie that is impervious to even the most devastating of circumstances. Their marriage is one that will continue to affect the way our entire family sees what Holy Matrimony truly means.