1947-2017: Oltjenbruns couple celebrates 70th anniversary

    From preemies to pinochle and everything in between, an awful lot can happen in 70 years of marriage. Milton and Leona (Schmidt) Oltjenbruns celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary Thursday, June 1.
    The couple grew up in the same church and community, attending Amherst Lutheran Church, but didn’t begin dating until after Leona had left town, as she went to business college in Denver and did office work in the city for a few years. Milton was home on the family farm.
    Around 1946, the pair started dating, and they were married a year later. Milton was 26 and Leona 23.
    1947 was an eventful year for the Oltjenbruns family, as Milton was the third Oltjenbruns sibling to marry by June. His sister Evelyn and his twinbrother Elton had each married earlier that same year.
    Milton’s parents moved to Amherst, and Leona moved into Milton’s family home with him on the farm, just outside of Amherst. Their family would be growing soon — perhaps faster than anticipated.
    The Oltjenbruns’ first child, Cheryl, made a dramatic entrance into the world in February 1948, arriving three months early at just 1 pound, 14 ounces. “The doctor was very proud he was able to save her,” said Leona.
    Leona was pregnant again soon after, and a son, Ken, was born by the end of December of the same year. “It was worse than twins in a way, because one baby would cry and wake the other up!” said Leona.
    Their third child, Nolan, was born six years later in 1954.
    Milton and Leona were proud to have three healthy children and a comfortable home for them to grow up in, with a bedroom for each child.
    Their farm was very successful, accumulating quite a bit of land over the years, and is still in production today.
    After 70 years, it’s safe to say their marriage was a success as well. The secret? “You’ve got to learn to compromise,” said Leona. “We made decisions together, but Milton had the last say.”
    Leona said the biggest dispute they ever had was probably when Milton wanted to place a silent bid on an entire section of ground. “The bid was low enough I didn’t think we would get it,” said Leona, “but lo and behold!”
    It was a scramble to be able to pay for the ground, but the move paid off in the end. “Milton was willing to take a risk to get ahead,” said Leona. Milton added that the large piece of land was what bought the next piece and the next, allowing for the farm’s expansion.
    Life was good for the family, with Milton and Leona feeling blessed to have three children who got along well. The couple enjoyed being part of a monthly card club, meeting for supper and pinochle with five other couples.
    “The kids were old enough to stay home without us by then — I think they had fun, too!” said Leona, chuckling over various times they came home to find something broken or some other sign of mischief.
    “Our kids had a good mother,” said Milton.
    Nolan, who was also present for the interview, said he appreciated how his parents were always totally behind him and his siblings, willing to support them in whatever they wanted to do with their lives. “They were never pushing us to do any one thing,” he said.
    Ken eventually came back to manage the farm after working for several years as an engineering manager and design engineer. Nolan, recently retired from working as a registrar at Colorado School of Mines, is back to help manage the farm now as well.
    When Milton decided to retire at age 65, he found that in order to collect Social Security, he would have to make it very clear he truly had stepped out of the farming business.
    “The year I retired was probably the most pleasurable year we’ve had,” said Milton. The couple camped in a trailer all summer long on the Washington-Oregon border, getting to know nearby campers, fishing in the ocean for salmon and having evening cocktail parties.
    They also moved to Holyoke around that time, where they lived in the same house for almost 30 years.
    Now in their 90s, the couple lives in assisted living at the Carriage House. Some of their favorite memories include their 50th wedding anniversary, a large family affair with Leona’s wedding dress on display and collecting Depression glass over the years together. Much of their collection is on exhibit at the Phillips County Museum.
    Their immediate family includes their daughter Cheryl and husband Dave Schutz and grandson David Schutz and wife Margaret; their son Ken and wife Kevin (Henry) Oltjenbruns; and son Nolan and partner Don McNaster.