Couple celebrating 75th wedding anniversary
Olyn and Bettye Jo Coward are celebrating their 75th wedding anniversary on March 17 at Bond Baptist Church, a milestone rarely achieved in today’s era.
“It is unbelievable,” Bettye Jo said.
Olyn, born in the Delta, said the majority of their lives unfolded in Winston and Neshoba counties. He recently turned 97 years old on Sunday, and his wife, Bettye Jo, is 95.
Their journey through life began in 1942 when Bettye Jo started attending school in Noxapater. Shortly afterward, Olyn volunteered for the Navy after high school in 1944 and served on the USS Pennsylvania during WWII in Okinawa, Japan, until he was discharged in 1946.
Olyn said a Japanese torpedo struck 26 feet underneath him in August 1945, resulting in 20 casualties which was an unforgettable and a lingering experience for him.
“I still haven’t shook it,” he said.
Bettye Jo started her career by creating oil paintings of portraits at George Day Studio in Philadelphia and later worked at Spartus Corporation in Louisville. The couple exchanged vows on March 15, 1949, in Jackson.
“We didn’t have any money, but nobody had to take care of us,” Bettye Jo said. “We made it.”
After a year of farming post-marriage, they moved to Meridian until 1962, where Olyn secured a job as a salesman at Hardin’s Bakery earning $16 a week. He later worked for Borden Milk in Meridian, U.S. Motors in Philadelphia, and Georgia Pacific in Louisville. During this time, they also raised three children, Dianne, Dell, and Nell, and returned to farming before retiring in 1988 and 1990.
“Our children are our proudest accomplishments,” Olyn said. “We ain’t got no bad ones.”
From 1994 to 2015, they enjoyed retirement life at a fishing camp on the Tombigbee River. They renovated the camp into a home where it still stands today and have since lived in a house built by Dianne’s husband, Jim, near Sandtown.
Olyn said the key to a long and healthy marriage lies in “learning how to say ‘yes ma’am’ and getting out the kitchen.” He handles outside work, while Bettye Jo, renowned for her cooking skills, manages the kitchen.
Bettye Jo continues to handle the housework and cooking, favoring old soul food like turnip greens, peas, and butterbeans. The couple maintains a garden, regularly filling the freezer with fresh produce.
“We had a good menu of eating coming up,” Olyn said. “We didn’t get it out the grocery store. We ate possum, coons, squirrels, and beaver.”
“That was before I came along,” Bettye Joe laughed.
Olyn has a passion for fishing and hunting and had numerous turkey, deer, squirrel, rabbit, and bird conquests across Mississippi and Alabama.
The couple values attending church and said they grew up learning that elders are the backbone of any community. They also enjoy it when their whole family gets together to celebrate Easter, Christmas, and Thanksgiving.
Olyn and Bettye Jo have six grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and four great-great-grandchildren, marking five generations.
“We have enjoyed them grandchildren over the years and now we got some great-great-grands. We have five generations now,” Bettye Jo said.
“There’s not many people that can go to church, look down the pew and see five generations down the row,” Olyn added.
Despite challenges like Olyn's eyesight and Betty Jo's hearing, they remain active, tending to housework, riding their golf cart, nurturing their garden, watching Mississippi State basketball, and cherishing time with kids and grandchildren.
“You’ve got to absorb the good from the person in front of you,” Olyn said. “We’ve had our arguments over the years, but they have never been serious.”
“We've had a good life, and we are close. The only time we were apart is when I would go into the woods and stay a week or 10 days at a time.”
Olyn and Bettye Jo’s family includes children: Dianne (Jim) Cumberland, Dell (Debra) Coward, and Nell (Albert, deceased) Whitehead. Grandchildren: Kayse Cumberland, Kelly (Rocky) Higginbotham, Alecia Whitehead Holder (deceased), Johnathon (Anna Leigh) Whitehead, Dawn (Heath) Dyer, and Brandy Stevenson. Great grandchildren: John Clifton Pope, Kalie Jennings, Levi Cumberland, Caitlin Dickerson, Marissa Dickerson, Jacob Dickerson, Joseph Dickerson, Alanna Whitehead, Annalyssa Whitehead, Josiah Stevenson, Trace Dyer, Cannon Dyer, Nicholas Dyer, Michael Dyer, Emily Dyer, Meagan Higginbotham, and Jordan Higginbotham. Great-great-grandchildren include Lucia Sharp, Walker Dyer, Remi Dyer, and Reagan Dyer.