Couples celebrate 60th wedding anniversary follwing God's plan

Friday, May. 23, 2014

CEDAR CITY — Ruth and Rudy Salazar will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary May 27, and are planning to take a cruise through Alaska’s Inside Passage to celebrate. 

The Salazars are parishioners of Christ the King in Cedar City, where they attend daily Mass. 

“We haven’t lost our love for each other,” said Ruth. “We are following God’s plan. We made a promise in front of God when we got married. Our faith is important to us and has been throughout our marriage.” 

 “The Holy Spirit led me to Ruth,” added Rudy. 

The couple grew up in Center, Colo., and met when Ruth was 15; she was walking back to school after lunch one day with her friend. Rudy was 19 and was riding around in a car with his friend. The boys stopped to talk to the girls and Rudy knew right away that Ruth was the one he wanted to marry.

“She was beautiful,” Rudy said, adding that she still is.

“He kept bugging me,” said Ruth. “One day Rudy had his friend come to my house and ask me if I wanted to go get pizza. Rudy was in the car; they tricked me.” 

Then Ruth started to like Rudy, she said. “He was a nice guy,” she added.

Ruth was raised by her grandmother from the time she was 2 years old because her mother had died. “My grandmother was strict and taught me that faith was important in life,” she said. “We prayed the rosary every evening at 7:30 p.m., and you better have something on your head. I used to think, ‘Why do we pray to so many saints and all the relatives?’ My grandmother really believed in the Communion of Saints.”

Rudy grew up with 10 brothers and sisters on a farm. He learned his spirituality from his parents and extended family members, although he didn’t attend church frequently until he met Ruth, he said. 

“We had to say our prayers before we went to bed at night, and my family was always talking about the Bible and religion,” he said. 

The couple eloped when Ruth was 17 and Rudy was 21. “I finished high school after we were married,” said Ruth. “We had four children: three boys and a girl.” 

The children all received their sacraments, said Ruth, adding that they now have six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. 

As a family, Rudy and Ruth spent time watching their boys wrestle, play baseball and soccer; while their daughter was a cheerleader.  

Ruth worked at JCPenney’s for 27 years as the manager of the shoe department. Rudy continued farming when the couple first married, but then sold tractors for Ford New Holland. His job moved the family from Colorado to California and then Michigan, where they retired. 

“We asked God where he wanted us, and his answer was Cedar City,” said Rudy. “We moved to Utah in 1993.” 

“We don’t have any family here; all our children live out of state,” added Ruth, “but they come and visit us in the summer.” 

At Christ the King Parish, the couple helps set up the altar for daily Mass and serve as Eucharistic ministers. Ruth is a lector, and they both have been trained for Sunday Celebrations Absent a Priest (SCAP services).

Rudy joined the Knights of Columbus and served as Grand Knight from 1996 to 1997 and District Deputy from 2000-2004; he also was parish council president. 

The advice they would give to any couple considering marriage would be to “listen to the Holy Spirit,” Rudy said. “When you have a challenge, let it be resolved by both the husband and the wife through a discussion.”