Couple celebrating 78 years of marriage say they are still as in love as when they exchanged vows

WAYNESBORO, Va. (WHSV/Gray News) - People around the world will be celebrating their relationships with Valentine’s Day this week.

One couple in Virginia will be celebrating the love they have had for each other since 1944.

Marsden and Bobbie Champaign met each other for the first time while on a train in Texas.

Bobbie was going home from a football game on the train, and Marsden said the conductor had him stand up so Bobbie could sit down beside him.

Marsden, who was a young marine at the time, was traveling to Corpus Christi when he met Bobbie. He said he knew he had to take her on a date as soon as he saw her. However, he had a problem: all he knew was her name, and that she was a telephone operator.

“I called the telephone office in Sinton and asked if Bobbie was there, and she was,” Marsden said.

The two quickly hit it off from there. Eventually, they got married.

The two lived in Texas for a time before moving across the country to Pennsylvania, California and other states, finally settling in Northern Virginia. The two retired in 1988 and moved to Waynesboro.

“We’ve lived in Waynesboro longer than any other place, and so Waynesboro feels like home to me. I think both of us have really become Virginians,” Marsden said.

Marsden said their marriage wasn’t always a smooth ride. He was in the marine reserves when the Korean War began and was called for duty. Like many others, Marsden had to leave his wife and family behind.

Marsden’s biggest advice for couples now is to not let a small problem get between them.

“They may seem like big issues at the time that come up, but believe me they don’t matter. You have to recognize that person is far more important than any of those little issues are,” Marsden said.

He also said it’s important to always take a chance on love.

“It chokes me up because I was so lucky. Cause I got a hold of her, and got a date with her and one thing led to another and we’ve been for, what, 78 years. And that’s pretty good,” Marsden said.

Marsden is 100 years old and Bobbie is 101. They share three daughters and multiple grandchildren. They just welcomed their sixth great-grandchild in January.

Marsden and Bobbie said they are just as in love today as they were when they said their vows in 1945.

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