The first time Dick Lutz laid eyes on Edna, he was 16, and she was 14. “I was a lifeguard and spotted her in the swimming pool,” laughs Dick. The two eloped two years later when they were still in high school. “We went over to the next town and woke up the preacher,” laughs Edna. “Basically we lied and told him we were both 18. Then we went back home but didn’t tell our families that we got married. When we finally did tell them about six months later, they said ‘well, you guys are on your own,’ and they kicked us out of the house, so we headed to Dallas.”
Dick started work with the phone company, and Edna worked as a carhop. “She was the cutest little carhop,” remembers Dick. “She made more money in tips on a Friday and Saturday than I would make all week!” Not long after the birth of their first son, Dick left to serve in the South Pacific during World War II.
As a young couple, one of the first lessons Dick and Edna learned was to save their money. “In those days, no one had anything. We saved for what we needed, not for what we wanted,” said Edna. “I remember when Dick was in the South Pacific, the interior of the car was in terrible shape. My stepmother worked for a funeral home, and she gave me yards and yards of purple material that was used as casket lining. I used it to fix up the interior of the car. It was so ugly, but nobody ever said a word!”
After the war, the Lutzes returned to Oklahoma, and Dick again went to work for the telephone company, but he also learned to repair televisions. “I was one of three men that qualified as service technicians in Oklahoma,” said Dick. “My business got so good that customers would call Edna, and she’d route me around Oklahoma City. I’d get off work and do 25 calls in one night. Eventually it got so busy that I’d pick up the televisions at lunch, take them by the house, and Edna would fix them for me.”
Even though Dick has put his diverse career behind him, he is still the oldest working golf pro in the United States. And, together, Dick and Edna offer this piece of sage advice for younger couples with a wink and a laugh – “Don’t elope! You won’t get any help if you elope!” But, on a serious note, Dick sums up their long and successful marria ge, “She’s a part of me, and I’m part of her.”
“He’s a good guy and has been a great provider… I’d choose him again,” Edna adds with a smile and a familiar pat on Dick’s leg.