A forecast for enduring love
Mount Morris couple wed on Groundhog Day celebrate 75 years
No shadow of a doubt here.
Don Pyle knew Helen Stiles was the one for him.
And when he proposed, she said yes.
That’s why the Greene County couple motored to Oakland, Maryland, to stand before a minister and take their nuptial vows on the frosty Groundhog Day of 1951.
Which is also why the groom, as he jokes, had a most interesting dichotomy that day.
The heater in Don’s ride — a spiffy, 1942 Buick, in two-tone blue — was busted.
And it was chilly, man, chilly.
“I told the preacher’s wife I had cold feet,” Don chuckled.
“She smiled. I said, ‘No, my feet really are freezing. The heater in my car doesn’t work.’ So, she brought out this warmer kind of thing.”
Does that mean the groom who had cold feet … also had his feet held to the fire … at the same time?
“Good one,” Helen said.
“Huh, never thought of that,” her husband seconded.
Buster and the incredible, inedible pie
Helen turned 93 last week. Don just made his 95th trip around the sun. Today, as said, is their 75th wedding anniversary.
Their son and only child, Joe R. Pyle – yes, the auctioneer with the signature Stetson, loud-on-purpose sport coat and the most kicking cowboy boots this side of Bakersfield – said his parents have been blessed by being best friends, besides husband and wife.
“Sometimes, it doesn’t work out with couples,” he said. “With my parents, it did. They still genuinely enjoy each other’s company. They still do things together. They still have fun.”
They started dating while they were both students at Clay-Battelle High School in Blacksville, W.Va.
Don’s family had moved just over the Pennsylvania state line to nearby Greene County – he and Helen still live in Mount Morris – but he walked a mile to the bus stop every day so he could graduate with his classmates.
Helen quickened his step. She was friends with his sister and came to the house for a sleepover one weekend.
Somebody noticed.
“A romance blossomed, as they say,” Don remembered.
“Fell in love,” Helen seconded.
After marriage and Don’s stint in the military, they set up housekeeping. Don took a factory job but the work wasn’t steady.
Being a wrench-turner from way back, he started flipping cars for extra money and parlayed a side gig into a good career, eventually owning a successful garage and car dealership by the time he was done.
“He worked hard and he knew how to connect with people,” Joe said.
“That’s what it is. It’s that ‘connectivity.’ I mean, he didn’t call it that, but he knew how to bond with his employees and especially his customers. He still checks in on his friends. He calls and emails.”
While Don worked at his garage, Helen managed the household.
She’s renowned for her cooking, but in those early days, Helen and her kitchen weren’t always on speaking terms, her son laughs.
“Yeah, they were just married and she baked a pie,” he said. “The crust was so tough they couldn’t cut into it.”
Before Joe, they had a loveable dog named Buster.
As Don and Helen were a frugal couple who didn’t want to waste food, they gave the pie to the pup, who sidled up to it, sniffed, fixed the couple with a look – and padded off.
“Not even Buster,” Joe laughed. “He wasn’t having any of it. And now my mother’s peach pies are legendary.”
‘You just do’
Their son, the auctioneer, turned the story into a primer on how to succeed in business and life.
Rather, if you don’t know how to do something at first, or if you aren’t good at something at first, you will master it or at least be passable at it — if you work at it.
He never saw his parents have to work at their marriage.
They’re always at the table together, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
During the COVID days when everyone was isolated, they still went on drives, cruising the Pennsylvania two lanes together, in a car with a heater that worked this time.
In a time when couples don’t stay wed for 75 days, and personal longevity aside, how have they managed to remain married for 75 years?
“You just do,” Don said.
“Give and take,” Helen said.
“Yeah,” Don countered. “She’s not always nosy.”
“And he’s not always annoying,” came Helen’s retort, with nary a pause.
Then, they both laughed.
Heck, their son said: Punxsutawney Phil himself couldn’t have projected a better bid for wedded bliss.