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Fifty years is a long time. Many things change in 50 years. Some things grow weaker with time, but the marriage of Kurt and Joy Valade just grows stronger.

The Valades celebrated their 50th anniversary recently, having married on Aug. 26, 1961. Their four children, Jana, Julia, Karen and Jayson, along with their sons-in-law and nine grandchildren, had a celebration for them at the High Point Country Club at Willow Creek. Their granddaughter, 17-year-old Alyson Record, even made a replica of their wedding cake for the occasion.

They met in the ninth grade in Detroit and were part of a group of teenagers who did things together. Although the others in the group rotated from one boyfriend in the group to another, Joy always palled around with Kurt Valade.

“There was no one else after I met him,” she said. “For our first date we walked to the senior play at school. Sometimes we walked the eight or nine blocks to the movie theater,” Joy said.

Their high school, Redford High School, had more than 4,000 students, and they went to school in two shifts either from 8:30 a.m. to noon or from 12:30 to 4 p.m.

She remembers music by Little Richard, Elvis, Nat King Cole and, in Detroit of course, Motown music — memorable songs such as “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” “Splish Splash,” and Joy’s favorite, “Smoke Gets in your Eyes” by the Platters.

“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” was played at the prom, and Joy remembers getting Kurt to dance to that song.

After high school graduation, Kurt worked for a year and a half at Huron-Portland Cement, a big company with nine plants in the Detroit area.

When Kurt was 19, he was “saved” and decided, “If the Lord can use me, I need to go to college.”

His family had a long history at Asbury College (now Asbury University) in Wilmore, Ky. He had uncles, cousins, a father and a grandfather who had connections there. They gave him a strong Christian heritage.

During his sophomore year at Asbury, he and Joy Turner married. They were both 20 and went to Niagara Falls for a weekend honeymoon.

When they returned to Asbury they had an apartment in a house that was built during the Civil War. While Kurt was in school, Joy was busy working. During the next four years, she worked at a bank, an insurance company, a telephone company and a drugstore. She became famous with the other students for sharing the delicious pies she baked. Her specialties were lemon pie and apple pie.

At the anniversary celebration, her son, Jayson, thanked her for the delicious apple pies she had made through the years. After making so many apple pies she developed an allergy to raw apples, but she still loves to make those pies for family and friends.

Kurt majored in physical education at Asbury and while in school sometimes found time to play soccer, baseball and softball with the “townies.”

After graduation, Kurt got a job at Hazel Park Middle School in Detroit where he taught health and swimming and coached football and baseball. He coached those sports for 25 years.

One of his most famous students was Bobby Welch, who later played baseball for Los Angeles and Oakland.

Their first child, Jana, was born in 1966, followed by Julia in 1968, Karen in 1971 and Jayson in 1975.

Three of their children continued the tradition and are alumna of Asbury. Jayson graduated from Guilford College.

When Kurt retired after 30 years of teaching, they investigated moving to several cities. They were only 53 and knew they would start a business. Their son-in-law, Glenn Record, knew of a franchise for an oil-changing business in High Point. After investigating several other franchises, they decided to purchase the oil-changing franchise.

Several years later, the Valades sold the franchise. Then Kurt helped built houses and even built houses for some for his children.
All four children now are living in the High Point area within five miles of each other.

I asked Kurt how times differ from when he and Joy got married. “So many college kids today don’t have a common denominator,” he said. “Joy knew my family and my cousins. We grew up and grew together. We have had experiences to grow on. Our main common denominator is the Lord and the love of Christ.

“We have five generations of believers. We would watch the older Christians in our church and the families ahead of us. They were our mentors.”

I asked if he and Joy had any advice for young couples. He said, “We were blessed by our Christian heritage passed down by our families. It gave us a sense of accountability. First-generation believers need to establish a heritage for their families. We always communicated and tried to have a united front.”

Joy said, “It helps if your husband is your best friend.”

Both Valades are retired and are very active in their church, Green Street Baptist in High Point. Kurt works with the men’s ministry, is a deacon and works with the Connection Classes (Sunday school). Joy works with the women’s ministry and is a Care group leader in her Connection Class and has other hospitality duties.

“Indeed, 50 years is a long time, but we both can truly say it seems like yesterday,” Joy said. “Where has the time gone? We have much to be grateful for. Lord willing, we will have many more times together to make more memories.”

A beautiful memory was created at the conclusion of their anniversary celebration when “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” was played and Kurt and Joy Valade were joined in a dance by their nine grandchildren ranging in age from 8 to 20.

Contact Kathy Johnson at mjohnson2@triad.rr.com