In the fall of 1941, Vic Perkins noticed a cute girl at Iola High School. Both were sophomores and before long he asked for a date.
“You know,” said Vic, 88, “she’s still cute,” a compliment that brought a smile to Maxine’s face.
Friday, he and Maxine (then Kramer) celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary, without much fanfare but with love and dedication that has been the backbone of their relationship.
Their marriage date is easy for both to remember, with both coming of age during World War II. It was on the anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 1948. Vic served 23 months in the U.S. Army during the war.
If there is a secret to their long time together, Vic said it might be that long ago he realized “I wasn’t always right.”
“There has to be a lot of give and take,” Maxine, 87, chimed in.
Vic was a relatively new kid on the block when he entered high school. He was born south of Gas and attended school there until the eighth grade.
They have three daughters — Debbie Roe, Iola, Marsha Karniski, Iowa City, Iowa, and Janet Galloway, Savannah, Ga. — as well as six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
While nothing special was planned for Friday, the Perkinses are looking forward to a family reunion at a place Debbie and husband David own on Table Rock Lake in southwestern Missouri later this year.
VIC SERVED 34 years as Iola’s city clerk, retiring in 1991. During his stint in the Army, which started soon after he graduated from Iola High in 1944, Vic spent five months in combat. He endured several weeks of intense fighting during the Battle of the Bulge and was part of the U.S. occupation force in Austria after war’s end.
He worked as a bookkeeper for Fritz Auto Supply for four years before he took on with the city, eventually replacing Clerk T.E. Shanahan.
Maxine worked as a secretary for the Children’s Service League here after high school and was a stay-at-home mom when their daughters were born. Later she worked 25 years at Iola Public Library.
In retirement they have traveled, often to see family, but have curtailed that recently because of Vic’s health.
“It’s been a good life,” Maxine said, with which Vic concurred.
