BROTHERS AND THEIR BRIDES
GENE AND EVIE FELS, 1944.
The Boy Next Door — HUGH MARTIN & RALPH BLANE, 1944
A festive feeling permeated Gene and Evie Fels home. Gene’s brother Wilbert (Joe) and his wife, Nora, had stopped by to discuss the secrets to a happy marriage. “We have a party going on!” Nora said.
It would be hard to find couples with better qualifications to talk about enduring relationships—long marriages run in the Fels family. In November 2009, Gene and Evie celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary, and Joe and Nora had celebrated their 64th anniversary in May. That’s 128 years of marital experience.
Indeed, the Felses have much to celebrate. Gene and Joe, both World War II veterans, grew up in a large family in the Chelan, Washington area. Both men vividly recall the first time they met their brides. “There was this new girl in town who worked at the café. The fellas said she wouldn’t go out with anyone—no one could date her,” said Gene. But instead of backing away from the challenge, Gene checked out the situation and the elusive Evie. He promptly bet his friends $5 that he could get a date with the beautiful waitress.
Evie sighed and said, “I don’t remember how many times he asked me out.”
Gene admitted his persistence might have been tinged with desperation. “I had to get her to go out with me,” he said. “I didn’t have $5 to pay the bet!”
When Evie finally relented, the two quickly became inseparable. “I must have impressed her,” Gene asserted. “I’ve kept her 64 years.”
However, World War II intruded into the couple’s blossoming romance. “My dad said he’d give me $50 if I didn’t get married before I went overseas,” said Gene. He accepted his father’s offer, but six decades later he shook his head and said, “I never did get that 50 bucks!”
NORA FELS, HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION PHOTO
When asked which branch of the service he joined, Gene replied, “I didn’t join nothing! They took me in 1943.” As an 18-year-old high school student, he received a three-month deferment so he could graduate, and afterwards was sent to Army boot camp. From there it was on to North Africa for two weeks, and then straight into combat in Italy.
WILBERT AND NORA FELS (ON LEFT) WITH FRIENDS, 1944.
Joe and Nora’s romance also began in an unconventional manner. “I pushed her into the lake,” said Joe. His excuse? He simply couldn’t resist the temptation. “Well, she kept standing right in front of me,” he explained. Nora reached over and gave him playful pat. “I was having my swimming lessons,” she said. Fortunately, she’d learned enough to stay afloat after her abrupt introduction to Joe.
He certainly got her attention, and she began walking her dog past the Fels’ home almost every day. Joe and his brothers would whistle appreciatively as she strode by and soon enough she and Joe were a couple.
GENE FELS, 1943.
When Joe received his draft notice, he wasn’t allowed to finish high school like his older brother. Instead, he had to report immediately to Farragut Naval Training Center and from there was sent to San Pedro, California. Having seen Gene and Evie separated by war, he was determined to marry Nora before he shipped out.
He secured a 72-hour pass and told Nora to make wedding plans. However, in the excitement of his leave and upcoming nuptials, he lost his wallet. He called his intended from San Pedro and she wired him money for a plane ticket. Joe arrived in Seattle and caught a bus for Chelan. Once again, bad luck intervened. The bus got caught in a freak spring snowstorm. “I called my brother, Wes,” Joe said. “He came and got me.”
GENE FELS, ITALY, 1945.
Joe and Nora married on May 14, 1945. After a one-day honeymoon, he had to return to base and then he shipped out to the Pacific. “I was fortunate,” he said. “I went through 11 major engagements and never got a scratch.”
Gene wasn’t so lucky. He reached into a cabinet in the corner of his living room and drew out a small box. Wiping the dust off it, he opened it to reveal the Purple Heart medal nestled within. “I got blowed out of my foxhole,” he said with a shrug. “A mortar shell threw me 30 feet into a rock pile. I broke my jaw.” He grew quiet. “Half of my company was lost on that hill in Italy that day.” After a month-long hospital stay, Gene returned to the battlefield.
Evie’s letters were his lifeline to a world he hoped he’d see again. “I wrote to him most every day,” she said. Gene recalled a Valentine from Evie he opened in a foxhole. He’d unfolded the large card, grabbed a pen and filled the backside with a long letter to his love. “I didn’t want to waste the space!” She didn’t know what to think when the card she’d sent her sweetheart returned to her mailbox. Fortunately, she discovered his letter.
They married upon his discharge from the Army in November 1945.
After the war, both brothers began careers in the automotive repair industry. When Joe and Nora moved to Spokane Valley, Washington, Joe said, “I talked Gene into coming over here.” He laughed. “Then we moved to Colville!” They raised their two daughters there, but eventually returned to Spokane Valley, settling less than a mile away from Gene and Evie.
And while laughter filled the room as the couples reminisced, things haven’t always been easy for them. At age 70, Nora was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease, a degenerative nervous system disorder. And Evie suffers from dementia.
The brothers are now caregivers for the women who spent so many years caring for them. “It’s his turn to do the cooking,” Nora said with a smile.
As the couples pondered the secrets to marital longevity, an answer occurred to Evie. While many memories have been lost to dementia, one thing is very clear to her. Reaching out she laid her hand on her husband’s cheek. “He’s a gem,” she said.
Gene smiled. “She’s been a good companion.”
Joe guffawed at the growing sentimentality, but added that choosing your partner well is important. He grinned at Nora, “She’s made life interesting.” Growing serious he added, “If you communicate and work things out between you, there’s nothing you can’t solve.” Silence descended after this statement, then Evie looked at Gene. “Maybe we’d better start doing that,” she said with a grin.
Once again laughter filled the room. With 128 years of marriage between them, the Fels family, by anyone’s standards, is doing just fine.
GENE AND EVIE FELS, WEDDING, 1945.
“Every marriage has ups and downs, just be patient with each other.”
—Wilbert (Joe) Fels
GENE, EVIE, JOE AND NORA, 2009.
Photo courtesy J. Bart Rayniak, Spokesman Review
Eugene Fels died February 18, 2010