Rolla Presbyterian Manor
AUGUST 2022
Editor’s Note: In a nod to our Presbyterian heritage, we regularly feature a column from a PMMA® chaplain in our newsletter. This month’s column comes from Dinah Dutta, chaplain at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor®.
Pause, Breathe,
Rolla Presbyterian Manor residents remember their wedding days Summer is the best season for swimming, fresh produce — and weddings. Every year, tens of thousands of couples say “I do” around this time of year, so we thought it would be a good time to ask residents to share their wedding memories.
Illa Bell and her husband George married on Oct. 18, 1945, about three weeks after Illa turned 21. The couple had been courting for two years, but Illa’s mother said she couldn’t get married until after her 21st birthday. The Bells’ wedding ceremony took place at First Presbyterian Church in Rolla, a pretty, white building on a hill. (The structure has since been George and Illa Bell married in 1945, turned into an antique mall, Illa honoring Illa’s mother’s wishes by members says.) About 40 family waiting until after Illa’s 21st birthday. and friends were in attendance. Illa and her mother traveled to St. Louis to buy her wedding gown, a white jersey street-length dress trimmed with gold nailheads. Her two attendants wore melon and blue sheer wool dresses, and George’s two attendants wore rosebud corsages. She chose black accessories and a white Bible adorned with an orchid and white satin ribbons. After the ceremony, Illa’s parents hosted a wedding reception at their home with cake, punch and coffee. Bouquets of flowers were placed around the house as decoration.
Wedding days – continued on page 3
HOPE By Chaplain Dinah Dutta
I can’t help but share this beautiful song with you as my thoughts are wrapped around 4th of Dinah Dutta July as I write my love note to all of you: The patriotic song, “America the Beautiful.” In spite of all the chaos, hatred, fear, and much more, I want to sing this song with all my heart. Each word reminds me how privileged and blessed I am to live in this great country. Please join me in singing: O beautiful for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain, For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed His grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea! O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Pause, Breathe, HOPE – continued on page 4
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Pause, breath, HOPE – continued from page 1 Whose stern impassioned stress A thoroughfare for freedom beat Across the wilderness. America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law. O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life. America! America! May God thy gold refine Till all success be nobleness, And ev'ry gain divine. O beautiful for patriot dream That sees beyond the years Thine alabaster cities gleam Undimmed by human tears. America! America! God shed his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea. I invite you dear ones to take time to pause, pray, breathe, and continue to live in Hope because hope, love, and JOY are contagious. Let us plant the seeds of HOPE all around us.
Galatians 6:8: For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life (NKJV). Enjoy the Summer! u
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Community Matters 573-364-7336 ◆ Fax: 573-364-7495 1200 Homelife Plaza Rolla, MO 65401-2595 RollaPresbyterianManor.org
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COMMUNITY MATTERS | August 2022
is published monthly for residents and friends of Rolla Presbyterian Manor by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, Inc., a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
To submit or suggest articles: lfreeland@PMMA.org Ann Caudill, executive director Joelle Freeland, marketing director
OUR MISSION: To provide quality senior services guided by Christian values.
Memories
– continued from page 1 “It was just a nice little celebration with family and a few of our closest friends,” Illa remembers.
Jessie Roach wed her husband Jack in Salem, Arkansas. They had purchased a pharmacy in
was a lovely wedding. I hated to leave home to get married, but it was just what we had to do.” The two pairs of newlyweds enjoyed a good dinner together after the ceremony. They traveled home in the morning, and the day after that, the Roaches went to work in the pharmacy. Jessie and Jack stayed together until his death nine years ago, and their friends Homer and Margaret Guffy enjoyed a long marriage, too. “I’m proud to say that both marriages lasted,” Jessie says.
Barb and Michael Durnin Jack and Jessie Roach
Newburg, Missouri, but they couldn’t move into the attached apartment until they tied the knot. “I’m old-fashioned that way,” Jessie says.
married on Sept. 30, 1967, at Christy Memorial United Methodist Church in St. Louis, which is the church where she was baptized. However, the
There was no waiting period for a marriage license in Arkansas, so they traveled some 130 miles to Salem, which is just across the state line. A couple with whom the Roaches were friends with decided they would go and get married, too. The two couples had a double wedding in the Methodist church, as Jessie refused to get married at the courthouse — she was oldfashioned that way, too. Jessie wore a beautiful new green suit, and her friend and fellow bride Margaret wore a suit as well. “There wasn’t anyone there except the preacher, his wife, and the other couple,” Jessie remembers. “But it
Barb’s niece repurposed her “very ’60s” wedding dress for her own wedding, which was held in Rolla last fall.
Barb wore a “very ’60s” dress with an A-line skirt and lace bodice. Last September, her vintage-loving niece wore it for her own wedding. Her mother handled almost all the preparations for the celebration. Barb’s father had one job: to engage the services of a photographer, which he neglected to do. Most of the wedding pictures were taken with his Brownie Instamatic. While most of the photos didn’t turn out well, “We got one good wedding picture,” Barb says. That wasn’t the only surprise.
Barb and Michael Durnin enjoyed a large and memorable wedding in 1967.
ceremony was officiated by the Presbyterian minister who served the congregation where they were members. More than 300 guests were in attendance. “They were standing out the doors,” Barb remembers. After the ceremony, the guests gathered for a reception in the church basement.
“My husband met me at the altar with a broken foot,” Barb recalls. Michael suffered the injury a couple days earlier when he was kicked out of a bar, which Barb didn’t know anything about until after the ceremony. She notes that he stopped drinking like that and quit entirely a few years later. In another dramatic moment, three women — a bridesmaid, a candle lighter, and the girlfriend of wedding guest — fought over Barb’s thrown bouquet, a sheaf of white flowers. “They were down on the floor,” she says, chuckling at the memory. u
Rolla Presbyterian Manor | A PMMA COMMUNITY
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COMMUNITY MATTERS | August 2022