Robert Kelley's chance encounter with a military buddy on the town square in El Dorado led to his happily-ever-after with Sue Anderson.
Robert was on a lunch break from his job at the sporting goods store when he ran into his buddy, Bob, in July 1953. They chatted about some of the other guys they knew and as the conversation began to wind down, Robert turned to go on his way. His buddy had a few more questions, though. He wanted to know if Robert was married, engaged or had a girlfriend.
The first time I saw my future spouse
She says: “I was impressed. I could tell he was a gentleman and a super person. He was very mannerly.”
He says: “I liked her.”
On our wedding day:
She says: “I felt very peaceful and I knew I was doing the right thing. I didn’t have any doubts about what I was doing.”
He says: “I was hot.”
My advice for a long happy marriage is
She says: “Take each day as it comes. Be respectful of each other and put God first. Treat each other with respect and just love each other.”
He says: “Never go to bed mad at each other.”
He wasn't and he didn't, so his friend said he would like to introduce him to Sue Anderson, who was Bob's fiancee's cousin.
Robert, then 25, was game for a blind date so they made arrangements for him to pick up Bob and his fiancee, Mary, at Bob's house in Smackover, and for the three of them to drive to Camden to pick up Sue.
To pass the time before his date, Robert decided to visit a friend. He still lived with his mother at the time, and while he was gone, his mother answered a call from Bob, who wondered if Robert was on his way to get them. Robert's mother told Bob that Robert had gone to see a friend and Bob assumed that meant he had forgotten about the date.
"When they got to my house, they fibbed," says Sue, who was dressed and ready for her date when they arrived. "They said he had car trouble and couldn't make it. I think we just went to a movie in Camden, the three of us. We were close."
Robert, finding no one at Bob's house when he got there, assumed he was the one who had been stood up.
The matter was cleared up the next day, and Bob and Mary and Sue and Robert saw a movie together soon after.
"After that first date together my cousin and her fiance went their way, and we went ours. They stayed away after that," Sue says. "They ended up not getting married after all, but they did their part in getting us together."
Sue was in college at what was then Southern State College (now Southern Arkansas University) in Magnolia, and they went to several movies, football games and dinners over the next few months. They made the occasional road trip to see the Razorbacks play and do some sightseeing in Hot Springs, too.
"Not overnight trips," Sue clarifies.
In December, as they sat in his car at the end of a date, Robert asked Sue to marry him. He wanted to wed around Christmastime.
"I put him off, though," she says. "I was a junior and I wanted to at least finish that school year, plus I just felt like we needed more time."
In March, they decided to take a break from seeing each other. Robert wasn't a fan of this plan.
"It lasted three days, and he called me," she says.
He gave her a ring in May.
"I did not know he had the ring until he gave it to me. He put the ring on my finger and he said, 'I will be the best husband I can possibly be,'" Sue says. "After we got engaged -- I know people don't do this much anymore -- but he went and talked to my parents and he asked for my hand in marriage. We're old-fashioned people. My parents were thrilled and gave their blessing to get married."
They exchanged vows on Aug. 1, 1954, in Fairview Methodist Church in Camden.
"It was the hottest day in the world, and that church had no air conditioning," Sue says.
Robert had completed his freshman year in college before joining the military and fighting in the Korean War. He went back to finish his degree a few months after they married. Sue graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology in spring 1955, and the next year, Robert transferred to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He finished his business degree in 1957.
Sue later completed her master's degree in special education and became certified in elementary school counseling. She worked in public schools and at Southern Arkansas Community College until retiring last month.
Robert retired from the sporting goods industry in 1991.
The Kelleys moved to Longview, Texas, for a couple of years as newlyweds before coming home. They lived for several years in El Dorado before settling in their current home in Louann.
They have two children -- Terry, who died in 1986, and David, who lives in Fort Smith.
"We are entirely different personalities. My husband is quiet, thoughtful, he thinks things through. I don't. I'm talkative, I'm fast and I'm impulsive. It's a wonder that we've stayed together," Sue says. "But we have and it's been wonderful."
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High Profile on 06/05/2016