Martha Jane and Arville Wilks through the years, from 1954 to the present.
A part-time job at the former office location of the Carroll County News-Leader led to a love story 70 years in the making for a Huntingdon couple. The newspaper office was the former location of H.L. Carter Store, where Martha Jane had a part-time job when she was 17 years old in 1953. One day, Martha Jane walked across the street to the Carroll County Courthouse for a restroom break and that’s where the love story of Arville and Mary Jane Wilks began. During that era, the gathering spot for locals on Saturday afternoons was downtown Huntingdon, as they could visit shops and take care of their business affairs.
Arville noticed Martha Jane walking to the courthouse while he was parked downtown with his friend, Jimmie Lee Rodgers. Arville asked his friend her name. As Martha Jane came out of the courthouse, Jimmie introduced Arville to Martha and a week later, the pair had their first date at the Carroll Drive-In Movie in McKenzie.
That September evening ended up being Martha Jane’s favorite date with her soon-to-be husband. The couple enjoyed attending baseball games around the county. They dated for nearly a year before making a trip to Corinth, Miss., where they married on July 19, 1954. They picked up their marriage license at the courthouse in Corinth and were married in the living room of a local minister’s home. They spent their honeymoon that night in Corinth and went to see the 1954 romantic comedy, “Three Coins in a Fountain.”
Prior to having children, the Wilks shared their first three-room apartment on East Paris Street in Huntingdon. Later, they moved to Benton Street and that’s where their family started to grow. Their life was full of Little League Baseball games, swimming at the Huntingdon Jaycee Pool, picnicking and cookouts with neighbors and friends.
Arville enjoyed playing softball and was a good pitcher. He pitched his last softball game at the age of 72. He worked at the Huntingdon Post Office for 33 years and was in the Armed Services for two years. He retired from the Post Office in 1987 to build his current home and help take care of his two grandchildren.
Martha worked as a beautician in Huntingdon for 49 years. She began her career at Wyatt’s Beauty Shop on the square in Huntingdon. With Arville’s help and support, she achieved her dream of owning her own beauty salon, Hair Fashions of Huntingdon.
They had two daughters. Connie Wilks Bond is a teacher at Huntingdon Primary School and married to Jay Bond. They had another daughter, Donna Kay Wilks who was born with cerebral palsy and passed away at the age of seven. Out of tragedy, Arville came to know and love the Lord after the loss of their special child Donna Kay.
He began attending and joined the First Baptist Church with Martha, who was already a member. Martha has been serving at First Baptist for more than 68 years and Arville for 51 years.
“Our two daughters have given us so much joy in our life,” the Wilks shared.
The couple has two grown and married grandchildren, Kristen Bond Dillahunty (husband Cliff) of Huntingdon, and Kyle Bond (wife Laura) of Greenville, N.C. They also have three great-grandchildren that keep them young and entertained – Axel Dillahunty, 7; Wilks Bond, 4; and Hawk Dillahunty, 2.
Their favorite activity as a couple is riding the back roads of Carroll County, watching the progress of the Carroll County 1,000-Acre Lake, and reminiscing about their life together and the many wonderful people they have enjoyed meeting along their journey together.
If you see a man with a ball cap on driving a red Mercury SUV and a lady with white hair in the passenger’s seat you might want to move over because they are on a mission.
The couple spend their Valentine’s Day loving each other, just like they do every day. Their gift on Valentine’s Day is the companionship of each other.
When asked what’s their secret to such a long and happy marriage, the couple agreed it is important to love God and have God in your lives.
What’s their advice to other couples? “Love your spouse the way they are and don’t try to change them to the way you want them to be,” the couple noted.
