Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 20, 1994 TAG: 9412230002
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CRYSTAL CHAPPELL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Wearing a specially made wedding gown and a never worn black suit, the Arnolds reconfirmed their wedding vows on their anniversary at Fellowship Baptist Church. But, the couple did not have to renew a promise to not fight; they have gotten along the whole time naturally, says Lillian Arnold.
"He wouldn't try to fight. I never had to sass or do anything," she says.
But the couple have had disagreements, says daughter Janie Jones, 61, who lives with them at their Southeast Roanoke home.
"They've had their words, but they compromise with each other and make up," says Jones.
Give and take has been the secret to staying together for the Arnolds, and Lillian Arnold advises that other couples use it.
"They have to take a whole lot to get along. You do," says Lillian Arnold.
Lillian Arnold, who does not drink or smoke, "put up" with her husband's "drinking and such" for about 20 years, she says. Pete Arnold used to hide liquor by the railroad tracks near their home to drink later, says Lillian Arnold, adding "I seen him hide it."
But, after Pete was saved 56 years ago at Baptist Tabernacle in Danville, he stopped drinking. "I'm glad he was saved. After that everything went along smooth," she says.
Lillian Arnold says she did not have any bad habits for her husband to handle. "He never had to be jealous of me or nothing."
Divorce was not an option when the couple married in 1916, says Lillian Arnold. She didn't even know what a divorce was when she was single; few people talked about divorces then.
"I never thought of separating. I just went along with it as long as I could. Then, the Lord took care of us."
The rise of divorces has been "because people won't put up with things that come up on them," she says.
The Arnolds' marital example has been followed by their descendants. All four living children of the couple's eight children are married. Their son, Gene, has been married for the longest time, 53 years. One son, Maynard, however, was divorced, but he has been remarried for about 20 years, says Jones. Jones, a widow, had the shortest marriage - seven years.
All 10 Arnold grandchildren have been married, but one divorced after five years and another is separated.
"I guess with the Lord's help you can avoid the arguments and things, and hold your temper, which is hard for me to do," says Jones, describing what she learned from her parents.
The Arnolds also set a good example by raising their children in the church, says their daughter. Her brother Gene, 72, is a founder of Fellowship Baptist Church and a traveling evangelist.
"We knew right from wrong," says Jones.
"I got a bunch of fine children, all of them Christians," says Pete Arnold. "When we leave this world, we'll have a better world to go to."
Well-known in Danville, Pete used to preach on streets with a loud speaker in various cities. He went to religious meetings every night.
"They don't get much preaching out of me now," he says.
"Just to me and mom," adds Jones.
Deaf in one ear and using a hearing aid in the other, Pete Arnold says he does not know what he would do without his daughter, who hollers to him. While he has lost most of his hearing, Pete Arnold has not lost any of his wit. Because he cannot hear most conversations, he talks whenever he wants to, says Jones.
"Of course when mama says, 'shut up,' I shut up," says Pete Arnold.
Pete Arnold says he regrets that his memory doesn't let him tell more stories. "People don't know these days and times what times was like then," he says.
When he married Lillian, Pete Arnold paid the preacher $1 to perform the ceremony. It took him 10 hours a days to earn $1 at Dan River Mills in Danville.
The couple used wooden boxes for tables when they first married.
Lillian, born in Wythe County, and Pete, born in Washington County, say they met at a Sunday afternoon party in Saltville. Afraid of her father, Pete Arnold asked Lillian's brother-in-law to ask her father if they could get married.
The couple lived in Danville and moved to Roanoke 23 years ago to be closer to Jones and their son Gene. They have lived with their daughter ever since.
They have remained busy, though. Lillian Arnold sewed until she was 95, making pillows, stuffed pictures and almost all of her daughter's clothes. Breaking her hip two years ago, however, slowed her her down, but she still dresses herself.
Pete Arnold stays busy all of the time. He tends a garden in the back, flowers in the front, potatoes in the basement and tomatoes by the side of the house. What is left of the yard, he mows. When it snows he shovels. Sometimes he digs up and replants flowers, says Jones. "I never quit working or anything," says Pete Arnold, adding that if he doesn't work his legs get stiff and he cannot walk.
Pete Arnold's new hobby is taping church services on the radio because the couple can no longer attend church regularly.
Pete and Lillian Arnold, however, were at church Sunday, where they were center stage. Friends and family from as far away as Atlanta and Florida came to the ceremony .
During one song, Pete stood up using his cane, smiled broadly and shouted, "Amen!"
"Let brother Arnold shout all that he wants," said the Rev. Claude Dykes. "Anyone who has been married 78 years can do anything they want."
by CNB