John and Eunice Burrow
Bill and Mary Mateny
On March 20, John and Eunice Burrow of Ridgefield will celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary. Ten days later, on March 30, one of the couple’s daughters, Mary Mateny, and her husband Bill will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
Along with the fact that their anniversaries are so close together, the couples also have a similar story of how they first met. John and Eunice met each other in the fourth grade while attending school in Ridgefield, and Mary and Bill also met in the fourth grade.
John, 96, was born in Ridgefield and has lived there for his entire life. Eunice, 95, moved to Ridgefield as a young girl and met John. The couple eloped and were married March 20, 1937, in Vancouver.
Mateny said her father had various jobs throughout his life, his latest as a truck driver. Now retired, John also worked at the shipyards during World War II. Eunice was a homemaker and the couple raised three daughters – Mateny, Geri Van Gelder and Judy Lambert. Mateny also said her father was the mayor of Ridgefield for one term back in the 1960s and he was also a volunteer firefighter. She said Eunice was very involved in the area garden club.
John and Eunice have seven grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren.
Mary, 68, and Bill, 69, were married March 30, 1962, at a church in Ridgefield. They currently live in Vancouver and Bill worked as a carpenter and Mary a homemaker. They have two children, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
The two couples will hold a joint celebration in honor of their anniversaries Sun., March 18, 2-4 p.m., at the Ridgefield Community United Methodist Church, 1410 S. Hillhurst Rd., Ridgefield. The event will be an open house.
