‘They Were Just Pillars in the Community’ Arkansas Couple Celebrates 84 Years of Marriage

Arwilda, 98, and Cleovis, 102, Whiteside have 12 children and share 84 years of marriage — making them the longest-married couple in Arkansas.

Their secret to a long and happy marriage?

“Pray,” Arwilda Whiteside told USAToday. “Know how to get on your knees, and get you a bible because that bible is going to have to take you through all kinds of storms.”

The couple first met when Arwilda was nine and Cleovis was 13 years old at a fork in a road. Cleovis had a special needs step brother named Elmo who would often approach young ladies and grab for their hands. Cleovis would often have to step in and come to the young ladies’ aid. 

One day Cleovis ran into Arwilda on the road, at that moment he knew he was going to marry her. 

The couple married on July 24, 1939, when Arwilda was 13 and Cleovis was 17. 

Cleovis left to serve in World War II, and returned in 1945 to study auto mechanics  at Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical & Normal College.

Arwilda was a stay at home mother. 

“Children that grow up in healthy, stable, two-parent households do so much better,”Arwilda said. “Married people do better financially, they’re healthier, they live longer, and their mental health is better … We think it’s important to highlight this traditional family value of marriage, just to show how important it is for our society.”

Oftentimes, Arwilda and Cleovis would provide a safe place for other children in the area. 

“Sometimes they had children that lived with them,” Dean, from the Arkansas Family Council, told USA TODAY. “They were just pillars in the community.”

Arwilda and Cleovis are truly a rarity, for less than five percent of marriages make it to 50 years, according to Weber State University