Caledonia Argus

Friends and family help couple enjoy ëgolden yearsí

Posted: 4/13/04

By David Heiller
Argus News Editor

ìWhy are you writing about the Sathers?î

I had more than one person ask me that question when I told them that Allen and Marjorie Sather of rural Houston were the subject of a feature in this senior citizens edition.

There was no quick and easy answer. They havenít won any senior citizen awards, although many people would say they are an award-winning couple. They havenít done anything newsworthy in the traditional sense of the word, although their 65 years of marriage is putting them within earshot of Paul Harvey.

But after spending several hours visiting with them and their friends recently, I found so much humor and love and wisdom that I can only answer that first question with this: Read on.

First thereís that humor. Some people have a knack for weaving it into their very being, and the Sathers fit that category. Allen in particular. Itís the kind of humor that always carries affection with it.

He told me that he and Marjorie were going to take a trip to Norway for a special church service in 2002 that they were involved in. But they didnít go, because Marjorie wasnít up for the trip. ìI didnít want to take a younger girl with me,î Allen said.

Allen is 89, Marjorie 84.

I asked Allen to list the three most important things in his life. He started with this: ìA good wife that cooperates ñ most of the time.î

He continued, ìGood family and friends. I donít know what more you can ask for.î He was serious about that.

ìHard work never hurt anybody,î Marjorie added. She had a similar response to my question. ìMy dear husband, and my family,î she said. After a pause, she added, ìAnd my farm.î

ìI thank the Lordî

We were sitting in the kitchen of their farmhouse on Sather Valley Road in Houston township when she said that. It was a fine spring afternoon. Fresh coffee and a plate of Marjorieís famous doughnuts made it even finer.

A blackboard on the wall before you enter the kitchen has these words written: ìLove to all who enter our home. Think good thoughts. Have a good day.î That might sum up Marjorieís outlook on life.

ìI thank the Lord every morning I get up,î Marjorie said. ìI take one day at a time.î

She could do some complaining if she wanted to. She has Meniereís disease, a condition of the inner ear that causes dizziness. It has given her a bad sense of balance. ìItís just part of me,î she said. ìI just sort of ignore it.î

She uses a cane when she walks. ìIíve been rapped a few times,î Allen said.

Meniereís has forced her to cut back on her visits to the nursing home in Houston, where she worked as an aide for 17 years, and to ABLE, a non-profit business that employs people with developmental disabilities. She was in the choir at Looney Valley Lutheran Church 62 years, but has quit that.

But donít think she isnít still active. Marjorie likes to make quilts, and helps with the clothing drive at church. She is known for her good cooking too, which

she shares generously, as I was later to find out. People call her ìThe Doughnut Lady,î Allen said.

Looney Valley Lutheran Church, which is located three miles south of their house, is a big part of her life. Before that, it was Oak Ridge Lutheran Church. Oak Ridge is located three miles west of Houston. Marjorie, the daughter of Sarah and Christian Westby, was born and raised in that neighborhood.

Oak Ridge Lutheran Church was built in 1896, and closed in 1969. When it closed, Christian Westby bought the Bible and altar cloths, which Sarah Westby, who was organist at the church, had crocheted.

The church has had a fascinating revival. It was dismantled in 1995 and moved to the Norwegian Emigrant Museum in Stange, Norway, in 1996. It was rebuilt there in 1999 and rededicated as Emigrant Memorial Church. Marjorie made sure that the church components that her parents had saved went to their new home in Norway, which is where they now.

Allen is finally retired

Marjorie and Allen met at a roller skating rink in Houston. They were married on September 30, 1939 in Houston Lutheran church in Houston.

They have four children: Richard (Marlene), 62, who lives just down the road; Karen (Dave) Moses, 58, a retired teacher who lives in Indonesia; David (Cindy), 55, who is retired from the Air Force and lives in Edmonds, Oklahoma; and Judy (Bob) Ledebuhr, 53, Rochester. They have eight grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

The farm buildings are empty now. Allen has sold his livestock and has rented out the 300-acre farm. This is the first year that he is officially retired.

When I asked him what he would do now, he said, ìThatís a good question.î

One thing that hampers him is bad knees, a side effect of 56 years of milking cows. ìStarted when I was eight years old,î he said.

ìIím not the man used to be,î he said. ìWhen I was 40, those 100 hour weeks didnít bother me.î

He was born and raised on the farm where he lives now. ìI was born in the same bedroom I sleep in now, in 1915,î he said. Itís a beautiful farm, on the southern edge of a broad valley seven miles northeast of Houston.

Itís easy to see how Allen could wait until age 89 to retire. He has been singing in the Looney Valley Lutheran Church choir for 72 years now. He acts and looks much younger than his age. Part of that might be in his blood. His mother, Amanda, lived to be 96, and his father, J.A. Sather, made it to age 93.

Part of it is that humor and positive outlook. He and Marjorie are on the go a lot. They eat out frequently at places like the Redwood Cafe in Caledonia, or Money Creek Campground, or the Winona Steakhouse. They stop to visit some elderly neighbors to make sure they are doing OK

Their son, Rich, thinks that that socializing helps keep them young. ìThey have so many nice friends that theyíve met during coffee hours.

ìThey have a marvelous faith which I think has helped them a lot,î he added, and so has their life of good, hard work.

Allen and Marjorie have traveled a lot over the years, twice to Alaska, twice to Europe, twice to Hawaii, bus tours across the United States, and on two cruises with their children.

I asked them if they ever found a spot they liked better than where they live now. Allen said he asked Marjorie that very question once. ìëNo, I like it at home,í she saysî Allen recalled.

ìTheyíre going to carry me out feet first,î is how Marjorie puts it now.

A walk down the road

After our visit in the kitchen, I asked if we could walk down the road to see the farm buildings. Allen helped Marjorie put her jacket on, and she grabbed her cane, although she refrained from giving her husband a rap with it this time.

We walked down the road a couple hundred yards to look at the farm buildings. Allen talked about all the tiling and re-tiling that he did on the land along a creek the flows into Silver Creek in Looney Valley. He estimates that there are 10-12 miles of tile there. He pointed out the addition to the barn that he and his brother, Merton, built.

Their son, Richard, farmed with them from 1968-1978, but there was not enough work to support two families, so Richard left. He is now a Houston County assessor.

Allen raised 200 hogs and 200 hens a year for many years. Now part of the concrete slab by the hog pen has caved in.

ìIíve pulled him out of the mud holes many times,î Marjorie said.

ìYou did good, Mama,î Allen replied.

As our pleasant visit ended, Marjorie made sure I had some of her homemade doughnuts to take home, and some lefse too. They were delicious.

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