Howard and Joan McPeak first met at Vacation Bible School at the Pape Christian Church. He was 16 and had just gotten his Driver’s License. She was 13. He invited her to the movie theatre in El Dorado Springs and the usher happened to seat Joan’s mother and brother right behind the couple, even though they had arrived on their own. When Howard put his arm around Joan, she was so embarrassed that Howard remembers, “She couldn’t stay close enough to her door on the ride home.” A bit later, he asked her to the El Do FFA Barnwarming – he was then a senior and she a freshman…she declined, still keeping her distance after that first date. Later down the road “things seemed to work out.” He gave her his class ring until it could be replaced with a diamond engagement ring on her 16th birthday. They had plans to elope on July 6, 1954, but as Howard tells it, “The old Plymouth had a bad crank shaft, so me and a buddy put a new engine in it that day.” One day later, on July 7, the couple headed to Nevada where Judge Kelso performed their marriage ceremony.
Howard’s lifelong work in the ministry took the family to other parts of Missouri as well as to Iowa and New Mexico. Joan cared for the family, worked in banking and was a licensed insurance agent for many years. She was also very loyal to the many churches they served. In 1993, they moved back to Missouri to stay, buying Joan’s childhood home in the Tiffin area. The home was known as “the Switchboard house” where phone transfers took place until the dial system was implemented. Joan, her mother and her grandmother all ran the switchboard starting in 1939. The pear tree that Joan remembers from her childhood is still standing today. The McPeak’s have five children, Joann, Cheryl, Leslie, Eldon and Chris along with many grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. They have also been foster parents to greater than two dozen children through their lives.
When asked the key to staying married for 70 years – Howard responded, “Forgiveness…and you have to keep breathing.” Joan added, “It was a ‘forever’ decision…we committed to it.” Congratulations to the McPeak’s!!
Please join us at Community Springs Healthcare Facility, 400 E. Hospital Road, El Dorado Springs from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. Monday, July 8, 2024 in the Main Lobby for cake and punch to help us celebrate and share memories with Howard and Joan. Everyone is welcome.
Facebook Comments