Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NAPPANEE - Just south of Nappanee, on Kosciusko CR 750W, 101-year-old Orbin Hoffer and his 97-year-old wife, Dorothy, will quietly celebrate their 79th wedding anniversary on Valentine's Day.
They met when Orbin worked for Dorothy's brother, marrying Feb. 14, 1921. They have two sons, Bob and Keith. Bob lives next door to his parents and Keith lives in Florida.
"They celebrated their 75th anniversary," Bob said. "They didn't want anything until their 80th."
"We'll celebrate it with just family," Dorothy said. "We spent our 50th anniversary in Florida."
Asked why they chose to get married on Valentine's Day, Orbin said, "She's my Valentine." Dorothy said she remembers their wedding day as being cold and snowing.
Orbin was born in Scott Township in Kosciusko County on Sept. 27, 1898. Dorothy was born Oct. 26, 1902, in Locke Township, a mile north of Nappanee.
"I've seen the automobile come in. I've seen the airplane come in and become popular," said Orbin.
"We've seen them go to the moon," said Dorothy.
"I had a Model-T Ford and paid $15 for it," said Orbin. "That was in 1918. That was some car. It was my first car."
He said the first car he saw in town was a buggy with a one-cylinder engine and no muffler. "You could hear him coming for a half mile," Orbin said. To turn the vehicle right, the driver pushed the lever forward; he had to pull the lever back to turn left.
But Orbin remembers that the roads weren't always perfect for driving on. "I've seen the town have muddy streets and no pavement," he said. The first brick pavement was in 1908, he said.
"We had boardwalks," Dorothy said.
What's their secret to longevity?
"Working together," said Dorothy. "Working hard."
Orbin said, "I don't know why (I've lived so long). I just eat and sleep. My mother was 83 when she died. Dad was 88."
"We just don't argue. It takes two to argue and I just don't argue," Dorothy said, smiling. "We don't always agree, but it works out in the end."
Many historical events occurred during Dorothy's and Orbin's lifetimes. And they don't have a problem remembering.
When John F. Kennedy was assassinated in November 1963, Dorothy said, they were at home. They heard the news on the television.
"I'm still not sure who shot him," Orbin said. He said there was some conflicting evidence, which makes him doubt that Lee Harvey Oswald was a lone killer.
The Depression, 1929 to 1939, was awful, Orbin said. Dorothy agreed it was hard. She said, "We never went hungry but we didn't have a lot to go on neither."
Orbin worked at a gas station for a while, making approximately $6 a week during the Depression. He then took a job at a local steel company, working seven days a week.
"I spent most of my years farming," Orbin said. For a number of years he held down another job while continuing to farm.
"One thing I saw a big change in is the farming today," he said. Fewer people are farming, and "they are farming more acres, bigger acres." At one time, he said, a person could making a living and provide for his family by farming 40 acres. "You can't do that today."
The first time Orbin went to Warsaw was for his eighth-grade graduation in 1914.
"That was my first trip to Warsaw," he said. "It took us all day (to get there)." They went by electric rail car. But while there, he said, he didn't get to see much of Warsaw. Now he visits Warsaw only a couple times a year for his eye doctor appointment.
The Hoffers went to hear Billy Sunday once when he was preaching in Winona Lake.
"I don't remember a word he said," Orbin said with a hearty laugh. But then he recalled something Sunday once said about taking up a silent offering, meaning Sunday didn't want any coins, just bills.
Dorothy and Orbin don't have a computer, though they've seen Bob's computer and all that he can do on it. Dorothy said it's "wonderful" what computers can do.
They don't watch as much television because Orbin can't hear as well. Except for Bob Barker on "The Price is Right."
The fact that he's lived in three centuries isn't a big deal to Orbin. He says he just takes it day by day. And while he knows that not too many people have lived in three centuries, he said, "People live longer today than they did 50 years ago. They don't have (as many) hardships as they did when they lived in log cabins, when they couldn't treat illnesses, when they didn't have hospitals to take care of a lot of things."
His final advice to living a long and happy life?
"Don't get mad. Don't get fat," he said.
"Just get along with one another," said Dorothy. "Cooperate with one another."
