Couple says love has kept them together 70 years

CLEARFIELD — Alfred "Bud" and LuVerne "Lu" Doonan Breen will celebrate their 70th anniversary Jan. 4, 2009. They were married Jan. 4, 1939.

Bud and Lu live in Clearfield and are members of Saint Rose of Lima Parish. They say their love for each other and their children, as well as their faith has kept their marriage alive for 70 years.

They have celebrated many Christmases together with family and friends. This year they will stay home and celebrate Christmas with those family members who live in the area.

They had a big family reunion for Thanksgiving, so they decided to take it easy for Christmas.

"We had family from Indiana, Nevada, Texas, and Nebraska come and stay with us," said Lu. "There were 30 relatives, and we are still recuperating.

"Over the 70 years we have celebrated and enjoyed many good times, raised five children, as well as weathered problems and sorrows," said Lu. "Our biggest sorrow was losing our youngest daughter, Linda, who died Oct. 16, 1978. It was the same day Karol Józef Wojtyla became Pope John Paul II. We were so consumed with her death we did not even realize it until later.

"Thank heaven when our daughter died we were very united," said Lu. "That was really a tough time. She had a rare plasma cell hepatitis, that I still don’t quite understand. We were living at Fort Igloo Black Hills Army Depot in South Dakota, 750 miles away from her doctor. When she was first diagnosed, we thought it was just hepatitis. Then we realized it was much more serious and the doctor said there were only three specialists he knew of who could help her. Two were in the United States and one was in Australia. We went to the doctor in Minneapolis."

Lu said her daughter would be in and out of the hospital at various times, which resulted in her having to be away from her youngest son, which was hard on him. I knew he was in good hands, Bud always helped me with the kids and the dishes. In fact he did the cooking because I don’t like to cook. The older children were grown, so it did not have an effect on them."

Years later, one of the reasons they chose to move to Utah was so they would have access to the University of Utah Medical Center.

"Linda was 26 when she died," said Lu. "She had the happiest disposition, and loved to laugh. She married, but never had children. They lived in Denver. She brought a lot of joy to our family, but left a lot of sorrow."

Bud was born in Napoleon, N.D., and moved to Ipswich, S.D., when he was about 12 or 14. Lu was born just outside of Ipswich, but was raised in Ipswich. Lu’s father died the same year she was born, leaving her mother to care for and support Lu and her sister. She never remarried. Lu’s mother struggled to keep food on the table, but Lu said she never felt deprived.

Bud and Lu grew up during the depression. They met in high school at a small school in Ipswich. Lu was a friend of Bud’s sister.

"We were in study hall, and I looked over and saw this handsome guy sitting a couple of desks away," said Lu. "He was four years older than me. I was a sophomore, and Bud had left school for a couple of years, and then returned."

Reluctantly Lu told the story of how they started dating.

"In those days, not everybody had a car," said Lu. "It was the depression years, and there was a little town near Ipswich that had great dances. People from nearby towns would also come to the dances. My cousin was going to the dance with her boyfriend, another boy, and Bud. She did not want to be the only girl in the car and asked if I would go along. I said I would, but I made it clear I was not going with anybody.

"When I got to the car, she, her boyfriend, and Bud were in the backseat, and the other two guys were in the front seat. So I rode in the front seat, and it was very uncomfortable," said Lu. "So I danced. Then at midnight everybody went to get something to eat and then went back to the dance for about an hour. When we got to the restaurant, my cousin and her boyfriend were on one side of the booth and there was Bud on the other side. What was I supposed to do? So I sat beside him. That kind of got things going. We got along pretty well. So I sat on Bud’s lap in the car on the way home rather than between the other two guys in the front seat. I hate to admit that."

Bud and Lu dated for a while, and then got married. They left Ipswich to move to Greeley, Colo., so Bud could go into defense work during World War II. Bud traveled 50 miles each way to work in Cheyenne, Wyo.

Then Bud was drafted and went into the U. S. Army. After he was honorably discharged from the Army they returned to Ipswich, but there was no housing available. So Bud got a job at Fort Igloo Black Hills Army Depot and they moved to Igloo, S.D.

"When we drove over the hill and looked down, I saw the houses and they all looked the same. It was an awful winter day, and I said, I can’t live here," said Lu. "We lived there for 20 years, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

"It was a government ordinance depot, and a very tight community," said Lu. "We made all kinds of friends that we are still in touch with today. Many of the people my age have passed on, but the people my children’s age are still alive and they return as often as they can to the reunions which are held in Rapid City, S.D. I still write letters to a few of my friends from Igloo.

"We did not have a lot of money, but our children never felt deprived," said Lu. "Their needs were always met. There was a community center in Igloo that always had activities for the children. There was a swimming pool that we could swim in for free. They had community dinners we would attend. And I was involved in an amateur theater group.

"We took our plays to South Dakota and Wyoming," said Lu. "It was really fun and we were pretty good. I directed a number of the plays as well. To name a couple, we did "Too My Husband," and "Gaslight."

Lu said the church where they lived was used for all denominations. The Catholic Mass was held first. Then they would move the altar for the other religious services.

"It was so sad when the government decided to close the depot in Igloo," said Lu. "It was hard to leave our friends and the community we had grown to love. That was in 1965.

"Religion has always been important to our family," said Lu. "So when we decided to come to Utah so Bud could work at Hill Air Force Base, my two youngest children went to Saint Joseph Catholic High School. Then in the early 1980s, Bud felt there was something missing in his life, so he decided to go to RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults). That was when Father Michael Kallock was the pastor (1980-1986).

Lu said Bud’s parents had been Catholic, but changed to another religion. His mother always wished they had remained Catholic.

"I felt left out when my family went to church, so I decided to become Catholic," said Bud. "Our family has always been close and we have had a lot of good times."