Ligonier Township couple credits faith, 'love of family' for 75 years of marriage

Wilma Riffle Pechart remembers Jan. 21, 1945, like it was yesterday.

“There was at least 8 inches of snow on the ground, and it was very, very cold. We didn’t send out a single wedding announcement, either,” Wilma Pechart, 91, recalled Saturday at her home in Ligonier Township, with husband, Clarence, 92, at her side.

No formal wedding invitations were made partially because Wilma’s parents, George and Elda Riffle, were not too keen about 16-year-old Wilma marrying another Waterford teen, Clarence “Pech” Pechart, 17.

“Neither of us even had jobs. My mom thought about it, but told me if they told me no, I’d probably end up running off with him anyway, so they said OK,” Wilma said.

“I drove everybody to Greensburg in my old Model A Ford later that week to pick up our marriage license,” Clarence recalled.

The couple had met a year earlier when a friend of Clarence’s, Harry Roddy, who lived near the Riffles, asked young Wilma if she would like to ride with Pechart on his motorcycle as part of a double date.

Wilma accepted, and the rest is history.

“No one thought we would last. They said we were too young,” Wilma laughed Saturday as she looked over the crowd of more than 50 family members gathered at her home along Wilpen Road to celebrate the couple’s 75th wedding anniversary.

Oh, and the no wedding invitation edict didn’t turn out as anticipated, either.

When the future Wilma and Clarence Pechart arrived at the former United Brethren Church in nearby Waterford on that cold and snowy Sunday night for the wedding, the couple was surprised.

“The entire church was filled with people to wish us well,” Wilma said.

Seems everybody in the village knew and liked the two Ligonier Valley High School students.

According to the National Center for Family & Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University, of everyone in the United States who is currently married, 0.01% have been married for 75 years or more. And, of all people in their 90s in the country who are currently married, just 3.2% have been married for at least 75 years.

Three months after their wedding, Clarence enlisted in the Army “because everybody was getting drafted,” and he headed off to basic training camp at Camp Croft in South Carolina.

Clarence served 2½ years, including 18 months with the 139th Infantry in Italy, before returning home.

The Pecharts said work opportunities were still limited after Clarence’s discharge so they traveled to Ohio to find jobs but returned to Western Pennsylvania a short time later.

The first of seven children, Sherry, was born after their return to Ligonier in 1948.

Six more children, Larry, Joy, Roger, Wynn, Randy and Rodney, followed through 1962.

“We had some some tough times finding work occasionally, but we certainly made a life for ourselves,” Wilma said.

Pechart tried his hand at farming, worked at Bethlehem Steel in Johnstown, was a park ranger at Linn Run State Park from 1954 to 1962 and eventually became a road worker in Ligonier Township, where he retired in 1980. Wilma retired from Bethlen Home in 1981 after working there 25 years.

The Pecharts had 15 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.

“To tell you the truth, I think it’s gone by pretty fast,” Clarence said.

As for the recipe for marriage success, Wilma didn’t hesitate.

“It’s difficult, especially in today’s world,” she said. “But you’ve got to have faith in God and the love of family.”