Columbia Falls couple celebrates 65 years of marriage
After 65 years of marriage, Columbia Falls couple Joanne and Ralph Johnson are still going strong. The pair celebrated their sapphire anniversary Friday, 58 years of which have been spent living in Columbia Falls.
Joanne and Ralph met in church in Billings in 1953, where they sat just a few pews apart. According to Joanne, she and Ralph can trace their many years of happiness back to a single cup of cocoa.
“After church one day, he asked if I would like to go get a cup of cocoa with me. I said yes, and then he asked me again the next Sunday. It all started with a cup of cocoa,” Joanne said. “We saw each other often and one Saturday he just said ‘Let’s go look for a ring.’ There was no getting on a knee or anything like that.”
A fullback on the Rocky Mountain College football team, Ralph had to wait until his season ended to get married. So, the couple were married Nov. 22, 1954, two days after the end of the college football season and three days before Thanksgiving.
After the marriage ceremony at the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City, the couple made the trip back to Billings for their reception the next day.
The couple moved to Plentywood in 1956 when Ralph took a job at the school there and made the move to Columbia Falls in 1961 after Ralph accepted a position at School District Six.
During his time with the Columbia Falls School District, Ralph was a teacher and was the head basketball coach and assistant football coach. Joanne also spent time with the district as a reading teacher with the Title One program.
Now retired, the couple enjoys spending time visiting family around the state and say their biggest adventure has been being able to enjoy spending their life together.
The Johnsons have four children. Todd, and his wife Sherry live in Ephrata, Wash. Cory and wife Rachel live in Stevensville. Kyle and his wife Mary live in Columbia Falls and Paige and her husband Don live in Ogden, Utah. Joanne and Ralph also have 13 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren.