Photo courtesy of Deanna Lucas
Kenneth and Colleen Hayes celebrated their 75th anniversary with family at the Cahaba Ridge Retirement Community in Vestavia Hills and with dinner at the Bright Star restaurant in Bessemer.
Kenneth and Colleen Hayes started their marriage in secret, but they marked their 75th anniversary surrounded by family. The couple celebrated with a party on July 3 at the Cahaba Ridge Retirement Community in Vestavia Hills.
Kenneth, 94, and Colleen, 92, met in high school in Aliceville, when he was a taxicab driver. With fewer civilian cars available due to World War II, many turned to taxis in the 1940s. Colleen recalled walking past a taxi stand and meeting her future husband.
“He whistled at me and waved, and then walked over to talk to me,” she said. “I kept walking past there after that. In a few days, he asked for a date.”
Their first outing was to a rodeo in Meridian, Mississippi, but Colleen said it took a little while for her to decide that he was the one. However, once they decided, they didn’t want to wait to get married.
Kenneth had graduated high school and was getting ready to move to Birmingham for a job, while Colleen was still in high school and barely 17 years old. They decided to drive over to the next county in Columbus, Mississippi, and find a justice of the peace to marry them. But they didn’t tell their parents.
“We thought we were keeping it a secret for almost a year,” Colleen said. “Lowndes County was just across the border from Aliceville, so it was convenient. But my grandparents lived in Columbus, Mississippi, and the Columbus newspaper printed the wedding licenses. My grandmother read that we got married and told my mother, but she didn’t tell me. When we decided it was time to tell them, they already knew. We look back at that as a silly teenage thing.”
Like all marriages, theirs took work. Besides having patience, Kenneth said the secret to a long-lasting marriage is always working out issues before going to sleep.
“If you go to bed, make sure you’ve cleared everything away,” Kenneth said.
Their faith has also played an important role in their relationship and lives. The couple attended and worked at Crestway Baptist Church in Birmingham for 63 years.
“The biggest thing that has kept us together has been our love for Christ,” Colleen said. “We tried to follow Him and bring our children up in a Christian home.”
The couple have two children, Deanna Lucas and Ken Hayes. Lucas, who also lives in Vestavia, said she appreciated how involved her parents were with her children, as well as the example they’ve set with their marriage.
“You can take it for granted until you’re old enough to appreciate what 75 years means and the ways marriages ebb and flow. Not many people are blessed to watch that or be a part of it,” Lucas said. “A lot of people can’t weather those storms. It’s a big deal to appreciate someone who can. They have such a history that they know they can depend on each other.”
