By Baptist Message staff
BATON ROUGE, La. (LBM) – Three Louisiana Baptist couples are among the runners-up for the distinction of longest-married couples in the state, released by the Louisiana Family Forum on Valentine’s Day: Burl and Mary Clark, members of East Jena Baptist Church; William and Barbara Patterson, members of Summer Grove Baptist Church, Shreveport; and Bill and Hazel Edmonson, members of Calvary Baptist Church, Merryville.
Louisiana Family Forum is a faith-based think tank that advocates for pro-family, pro-life, First Amendment and limited government public policies.
Based on submissions LFF received, Ira and Margery Milan of New Orleans were named the longest married couple (82 years). The Milans and ten runners-up were honored with a proclamation from Governor Jeff Landry, a Ralph’s Market king cake, and induction into LFF’s 2024 Marriage Hall of Fame:
— Burl and Mary Clark, Jena, 77 years
— Lloyd and Audrey Schroeder, Jefferson, 77 years
— Leland and Gussie Lacaze, Robeline, 77 years
— Marion and Jean Hess, New Orleans, 76 years
— Paul and Yvonne Wilson, Morgan City, 76 years
— Bill and Hazel Edmonson, Merryville, 75 years
— Richard and Geraldine Van Tiem, Shreveport, 74 years
— Nelvil and Mary Theard, Covington, 74 years
— William and Barbara Patterson, Shreveport, 73 years
— Angelo and Josie Lewis, Shreveport, 73 years
“Each year, we highlight the contributions that faithful covenant keepers make to Louisiana and their meaningful journey together,” LFF President Gene Mills said in a statement. “We want to remind this generation that lifelong marriage is not only good but also contributes to a longer, healthier, and happier life.”
LOUISIANA BAPTISTS RESPOND
William and Barbara Patterson will celebrate their 74th anniversary, June 5. The Pattersons are 57-year members of Summer Grove Baptist Church, and said they have enjoyed a fruitful marriage by trusting in the Lord.
“We depend on God and are committed to one another,” Barbara Patterson told the Baptist Message. “And we still love spending time together whether it’s going to church, the grocery store or visiting friends.
“We’ve learned to let God be the one who we trust with our decisions,” she continued. “We have depended on God to guide us and that has been a key to helping our marriage not to fail.”
Bill and Hazel Edmonson will celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary on April 17. Hazel Edmonson said she has been a member of Calvary Baptist for 65 years and her husband joined the church later. She noted that while they do not have a perfect marriage, they seem to have survived through their reliance on God.
“God has you through your ups and downs, your valleys and your mountaintops,” she said. “We forgive one another because He has forgiven us.
“A marriage is about give and take, where both parties must realize they will not always get their way,” she continued. “When we have gotten into arguments, later we stopped to think about what we said and it really was not wise to have exchanged those kind of hurtful words in the first place. If married people would stop and think before speaking, they would save each other lots of heartaches.”
