THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411110290
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Janelle LaBouve
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Jeanette Guichard and Ocie Ballance first met in 1928, when they were both 23 years old.
They dated for a few months. But Guichard lived in the Ocean View area of Norfolk and Ballance lived in South Norfolk. Neither had a telephone, and the only time they could get together was when Ballance could borrow his father's 1924 Model-T Ford.
``Then she started going with some sailor and got married,'' Ballance recalled. ``In 1929, I met my wife.''
For the next 50 years, the two never saw each other.
The one day, Guichard learned that Ballance was still in South Norfolk and that his wife of 52 years had just died.
``I mailed him a sympathy card and gave my phone number,'' she recalled.
``I called to see how she was,'' Ballance said. ``I just wanted to see if she was bossy. I wanted to know how hard she was to get along with.''
Their old romance was rekindled. They courted for the next 13 months and then got married. Neither seems certain how the marriage came about.
``I was a dang fool to get married again,'' he joked. ``I was almost in my 80s. But I must have asked her to marry me.''
``As you get older, you are happier and can do things together,'' she said. ``He's very nice to me. He never gets mad. But I do get mad every once in while.''
On Wednesday, they'll celebrate their 10th anniversary.
``Grandma always gave us the impression that he was her first love,'' said Jeannette Ballance's granddaughter, Linda Waters. ``They are just a real sweet, loving couple. At Christmas they were sitting side-by-side in the middle of the sofa. They fell asleep sitting there with their heads together. It was so cute.''
Her name: Jeanette Ballance
Her birthdate: July 1, 1907
Grew up: ``I was born in Brooklyn, but I've been here most of my life.''
Children: Carolyn Boring and Billy Swift
Favorite song: `` `Somewhere My Love' - that's so pretty. They don't play it very much anymore.''
Can't resist: ``I make a pretty good rice pudding.''
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? ``I'd lose a little weight. I'm a shortie - about 5 feet. My husband is tall and still handsome.''
Favorite TV program: `` `The Waltons.' We like country music, so we watch the Nashville channel every night after the dishes are done.''
Favorite Chesapeake restaurant: Golden Corral Family Steak House, Ho-Ho Restaurant and Ryan's Family Steak House
Biggest problem facing Chesapeake: Traffic
His name: Ocie Ballance
Birthdate: Sept. 10, 1907
Children: Ocie Jr. and Grace Lamb
Grew up: ``I was born and raised in South Norfolk.''
Retired from: ``It has been 31 years ago since I retired from Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. I had worked there 39 years. For four years I was an apprentice machinist. At the end of every year, I had to pass two exams before I could get a raise. At the end of the first year, I got a 25-cents-an-hour raise. The second year, it was 35-cent raise. The third year, 48 cents an hour. By the fourth year, my raise was up to 60 cents an hour.''
Can't resist: ``Sweets'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Ocie and Jeanette Ballance got married 10 years ago after they
rekindled a romance that was 50 years past.
by CNB