Couple finds new relationship later in life
MUDDY CREEK TWP — When Ed Kinter and Mary Ward got married July 20, it was the culmination of a romance begun more than 70 years ago.
But the path from the country schoolhouse where they first met to their nuptials at the Presbyterian Church of Portersville was neither straight nor smooth.
Kinter, 88, and his bride, 85, said they met when they were both in seventh grade at the one-room Elliott School on Hendricks Road in Center Township.
“It's behind where the Clearview Mall is now,” said Mrs. Kinter, who in those days was Mary Groves.
It wasn't love at first sight, she said.
“Some time passed, and World War II came along, and we started dating. You had joined the Merchant Marine,” said Mrs. Kinter pointing to her husband.
“We carried war supplies to whatever front they needed,” said Kinter. “I'd get a week off and I'd come running home and we'd have a date, and we'd write letters in the meantime.”
But differences ended their wartime romance.
“She was a young Christian lady who accepted the Lord at 14,” Kinter said.
“My mother said every date was a potential marriage. You need to be careful of who you go with,” said Mrs. Kinter.
Unfortunately, Kinter said, at war's end “I was a discharged Merchant Marine. I was a smoking, drinking, carousing sailor.”
“I couldn't go with you anymore. I wanted to live life like the Bible,” said Mrs. Kinter.
“We went our own ways. Two years later, she married a young Christian man and they had 63 years of happily married life,” said Kinter.
“James Ward was drafted into the Army right out of high school and served in the Philippines,” said Mrs. Kinter.
Meanwhile in 1951, Kinter met and married Jennie Stewart and began working for the G.C. Murphy Co., starting as a restaurant manager and ending as director of food service for the entire company after moving from state to state.It hadn't been an easy time for Mary. Her husband, James, underwent a quadruple heart bypass surgery in 1997 that left him with an undiagnosed blood clot on the top of his spinal cord.“Surgery to take out the blood clot left him with quadriplegia. He became bedfast,” in 2003, she said.James Ward died in 2009, while Kinter's wife passed away in 2007.Ed and Mary re-established contact when he called to offer his condolences when one of her sisters died at the end of 2009.“I called and said if you need a friend or help or anything, give me a call. She didn't,” said Kinter.“I didn't want any other relationship,” she said.Finally, “My daughter (Carol Albright) said 'Mom, please get in touch with Ed because we are afraid we are going to lose you,''' said Mrs. Kinter, who said she was worn down from being her husband's caregiver.“I sent a card and wrote 'Is your offer of friendship still there?' and I just signed it Mary,” she said of her November 2009 attempt to reach out.“I picked up the phone and said the friendship offer stands, and I'd like to take you out to dinner,” said Kinter, adding he felt like a teenager.“After a period of time, we went out for another dinner, and we became good friends,” said Mrs. Kinter.“He started to take me to church, and I was happy about that because I couldn't go much when my husband was sick,” she said.
He's shared his beekeeping hobby with her, and they've taken dancing lessons together, attended church functions and hosted card parties.“We just reached a place where we had fallen in love together, and it was either live together or get married as the Bible teaches. We chose to get married; that's the best way,” said Mrs. Kinter.It was only two months from proposal to wedding ceremony because, said Kinter, “When you are 88 years old, you can't stand on the corner whistling.”It helps that their families get along, they both said.The wedding party was made up of Kinter's two sons and daughter and Mrs. Kinter's three daughters and a son.“My son (James C. Ward Jr. of Jefferson Township) walked me down the aisle,” said Mrs. Kinter. “My two eldest daughters (Carol Albright of Butler and Kathleen Matteson of New York City) sang “There Is No Greater Love.” My youngest child (Elisabeth Oesterling of Butler) stood with me as matron of honor.”
Kinter said, “My oldest son (Dean Kinter of Fort Wayne, Ind.) stood up for me as best man and my other son (Dwight Kinter of Newport News, Va.) acted as an usher. My daughter (Della Serafine of Butler) was just a general go-to girl and all-around help.”They are hoping to close soon on a home they can share in Butler Township.“I know my husband would be happy to see me happy again. I know Jennie would feel the same,” said Mrs. Kinter.“I consider this another chapter in our life,” said Kinter. “When we got married, it doesn't replace the love we had for our parents or anyone up the line.”“I thank God Jennie took all the rough edges off him,” said Mrs. Kinter.
