Ruth and Merle Fox of Rock Port, Missouri, will be celebrating their 74th wedding anniversary in October.

Merle was born in 1928 and lived on several farms growing up as his grandpa would buy properties and renovate them, then resell them.

Ruth was born in 1929. As an only child, she did everything her parents did, whether that was gardening, cooking and cleaning in the house, building fence, or corralling livestock.

Merle enlisted in the United States Navy in 1945. As a seaman first class, he worked on the flight line, servicing planes and preparing them for preflight.

Ruth graduated from Rock Port High School in 1947 and then attended and graduated from Commercial Extension Business School in Omaha, Nebraska.

Merle and Ruth Fox had a daughter, Mary Jean. They now have three grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Merle and Ruth Fox have been mainstays of Atchison County almost their entire lives. Although each is known for their individual contributions, they are always spoken of as a pair. You don’t hear one’s name without the other. Married on October 12, 1950, the couple has spent nearly 74 years by each other’s side, no matter where that was. They raised a daughter together and now have three grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. The couple said they always worked together pretty well. Merle added, “The success of the marriage is contributed to the fact that not only did we love each other, but we didn’t have time to argue. We just agreed to disagree and move on.”

Ruth was born to Ernest and Anna Moore on July 27, 1929, living east of Fairfax on Hwy. 46. As an only child, Ruth went everywhere her parents went and did what they did, whether that was working in the garden, cooking and cleaning in the house, building fence, or corralling livestock. Following a move, she attended Shiloh School 12 miles northeast of Rock Port and became a part of the High Creek community. She enjoyed playing with Jessie (Herron) Knierim, who was like a sister to her since she didn’t have any siblings. She attended Rock Port High School and graduated in 1947. Ruth graduated from Commercial Extension Business School in Omaha, Nebraska, and then came back to Rock Port. She worked for Lee Vogel, who sold Plymouths and Chryslers. She later worked at the welfare office in Rock Port and then went to work for Walter Mulvania in 1961, where she stayed for 45 years, retiring in 2006.

Merle was born to Duane and Genevieve (Hopkins) Fox on December 12, 1928. They lived west of Fairfax in the English Grove community. Merle spent many years living with his grandparents. His grandpa would buy farms, renovate them, and then sell them, so Merle attended many different country schools. As a junior in high school, Merle joined the United States Navy and earned his G.E.D. When he enlisted in 1945, he traveled to San Diego, California. He was also stationed at the Alameda, California, Naval Air Station and attended a Navy Air Force Ordnance School in Florida. As a seaman first class, he worked on the flight line, servicing planes and preparing them for preflight. He was discharged in 1947. When he came home, Merle drove a truck for Rupe Trucking and King Trucking, hauling freight. He also worked for farms in Iowa and by Fairfax and then at Holt Hardware in Maryville, Missouri. He also helped farmers cut weeds out of corn. Then on May 1, 1950, he began working at REA (Atchison-Holt Electric Cooperative), where he stayed for 41 years, retiring in 1991. Merle worked as a lineman, providing service to 3,000 customers in three counties working on 1,200 miles of line. Merle recalled, “When I started working there, I was told to show up at 15 minutes to 8:00 a.m.; be clean shaven and have a packed lunch. We went to work on company time and worked an 8-hour day, an hour off for dinner, worked until 5 and came in on our own time and many times were 10 to 30 miles from home. Wage was 75 cents per hour. Pay raises were slow in coming and it was quite a while before we got a dollar an hour. We furnished our own hand tools. Outages were a joint effort between our line crews and the farmers who helped pull our trucks if we got stuck, etc., and they furnished food for our crews.” As for those dinners they got each day, Merle proudly exclaimed, “Ruth made me lunch every single day!” His four decades of service saw him working many natural disasters, including tornadoes, ice storms, windstorms, and floods. In 1952, he donned hipwaders to pick up meters in flood ravaged Big Lake. Being a lineman can be a dangerous job, but as Ruth put it, “When trouble called, Merle went.” Merle’s grandfather’s renovation skills were passed down to Merle, and he tore down houses and school buildings, collecting the lumber. With the help and tutelage of Willis Burke, Merle and Ruth built their own home in Rock Port. They lived there for 20 years before moving to Merle’s Hopkins family farm near Grange Hall in northern Atchison County. The farm was established in 1856 by N.O. Hopkins, Merle’s great-grandfather, and it is now a Missouri Century Farm. Merle ran Fox Angus Farm with 70 head of cattle. After 20 years on the farm, Merle and Ruth moved west to Hwy. 275 in western Atchison County. After 14 years, they returned to living in Rock Port, where they presently reside. When not working or tearing down houses or farming, the couple stayed busy in other avenues. Ruth enjoyed gardening and canning, was a member of the Federated Ladies Club (a community club that did volunteer work, including painting ceiling tiles at the Memorial Building), was a member of the High Creek Baptist Church and later the Rock Port Baptist Church, where she taught Sunday school and was a clerk and treasurer, and both she and Merle were 4-H leaders. Merle was a member of the Rock Port Park Board and was on the Memorial Building Committee.

The blood, sweat, and toil obviously did not take an adverse effect on them, as they are still going strong at 94 and 95 years of age. Both attribute their longevity to staying active, taking care of themselves, and eating right and exercising. However, Ruth said that they have also had such amazing and long lives thanks to the support and love shown from family, friends and the community at large. They both agree that this is a wonderful place to live. Those family values of working hard but loving just as hard were ingrained.

Ruth recalls growing up during the Depression. Living on a farm, men would stop by looking for a free meal and possibly some work. She said her parents never turned anyone away. Even though times were hard, her mother always scrounged up a meal for those men, even if the family had already eaten, and if they didn’t have any plans, her father would offer them a job shucking corn. Those were definitely different and hard times, although they made do.

Ruth and Merle’s families farmed using horses and Merle recalls the dust. In the 1930s, the dust was ankle deep and the temperatures would go for days on end above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Those were the days of bib overalls and walking around barefoot and the dust and heat were just too much to be out in.

Merle also recalls that back then, three to five families were living in almost every mile of countryside. Now, one family might own several hundred acres and may or may not live on it. From horses, to tractors with steel wheels, to tractors with rubber tires, to tractors and combines that now can almost run themselves, they’ve seen it all! Merle said it’s been an unbelievable transformation to witness.

The transformation of technology and society may be a surprise, but their love for one another is not and has never diminished, only grown deeper over time. Their days may be  a bit quieter, but Ruth and Merle can still be found living life to the fullest side by side.