By Joel Stottrup

The pearl is gone from the little band of gold that Art Smith gave to Ruth Linton nearly 66 years ago in the basement of her home near Buffalo, N.Y.

But Art and Ruth Smith still remain man and wife after 65 years of marriage. They celebrated that anniversary Sunday.

Ruth doesn't wear either the ring with the missing pearl nor the diamond ring Art later gave her. But no one could mistake the bond the two have when talking with them for awhile.

Art, 92, explained how he and Ruth, 88, have stuck together for so long.

"We counterbalance each other," he said. "I go overboard and she restricts me and sometimes she goes under and I have to pull her up."

Having opposite personalities is a plus, otherwise it would be a "dull road," he said.

Art, a retired art professor, who during his 31 years of teaching and administration at the University of Minnesota at Duluth (UMD) became head of the art department, describes himself as having a "type A personality."

She agreed with that and also his description of herself as having a retiring type of personality, thus his reference that she sometimes "goes under."

Art, in fact, did most of the talking during an interview of the couple at their apartment last Thursday. He began by saying their marriage has been different than that of many couples in the sense of how many homes they have had in their six-plus decades.

In fact, this is the second time the Smiths have lived in Princeton. The first time was for seven years starting in 1989 when the couple moved from Henderson, Nev., near Las Vegas. Then "we got the wanderlust again," he said, and explained that they moved to Pembroke, Fla. They had friends there but stayed only until 2003 when they returned to Princeton.

The pull to be closer to their children - son Linton and daughter Leanne - who live in the Twin Cities area, and health reasons, brought them back to Princeton. They said it was the size of town they wanted within about an hour's drive of their children, and like it that many have fixed up old homes in Princeton.

When the Smiths originally lived here they had a townhome built to their specifications along the golf course. This time when they returned they found a corner apartment at Crystal Court Apartments. Art also has a separate space he rents inside the building for his watercolor studio.

How they met

Art and Ruth met while attending Kenmore High School in Buffalo, N.Y., and went together for eight years, the courtship lasting into his college years. They married on June 26, 1940.

"She was dainty, beautiful, well dressed, well mannered," Art said as he explained what attracted him to her. "I don't know what to say. I fell in love with her right away."

Art noted that she made all her own clothes, including the long dress she made out of fluffy material for the dance he took her to at the Alpha Zeta fraternity in college. Later, she made a suit for him.

"I'd go to the movies and see all those actresses dressed in gorgeous gowns and I'd come home and copy them without a pattern," she said.

What she found attractive about him came when they were dating and out for a walk one rainy evening to get an ice cream cone.

She remembered that Art turned to her and said, "You know, I think I better go to college." It was the only way to get a good job during those years of the 1930s Depression, he recalled thinking at the time.

Him wanting to attend college was just what she wanted to hear, she said last Thursday as they talked about their years together. She explained that she had been lectured while growing up not to marry someone who didn't get a "good education."

Art first attended the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy for two years, Buffalo State College for art education for three years, and then he taught at Boynton Junior High in Ithaca, N.Y. for three years, starting in 1939. He then went into the Army for about three years.

After being discharged he taught at a high school in Ithaca for one year. At the same time, he earned his master's degree in education administration at Cornell University. He next became a teaching assistant at Syracuse University for 2 1/2 years before beginning his 31 years, mostly as an administrator, at UMD.

During the couple's last several years in Duluth, he designed a new home the couple planned to retire in at Mountainberg, Ark. But they lived there only eight years, deciding quickly after Ruth had a heart attack that it was too far from a hospital (50 miles away on winding roads). So that began a series of moves until they landed in Princeton again.

One important possession that followed the couple wherever they moved, until this last time, was the Kimball parlor grand piano that she inherited from a grandfather and played. It was the same piano model that won first prize at the Chicago World's Fair, he noted.

"So when I married her, I married her piano," he said.

They also traveled for some time in a motor home across the United States, after their children had grown, and they also went abroad. One memorable trip was to Liverpool, England, where they saw the church in which grandparents on her mother's side were married.

During their recollection of how they have gotten along for so long, she sometimes teased him.

When he brought up that they never had any disagreements, including what foods they liked, she responded, "Just make sure you have enough where Art's concerned.

"I have a terrible appetite," he admitted. "I'm trying to curb that as I grow older."

Art, who was a Boy Scout during his youth (he became an Eagle Scout and was also an assistant scoutmaster) was living only three blocks away from her in south Buffalo when he was in second through fourth grade but didn't know her. At the end of his fourth-grade year he moved to Kenmore and a year later she moved there.

He was to learn later all about her growing up-years, including the time she was run over by a car. She was trying to catch a ride with some boys on the back of a truck but didn't make it and then hastily decided to cross the street. That was when she was hit. She said all her teeth were pushed back up into her gums but eventually grew out OK.

"It was an unspoken, foregone conclusion that we would marry," Art said. "We were so madly in love."

"We seemed to agree with everything without really realizing. . ." she added.

One of the first decisions they agreed upon before they married was whether he should spend what money he had on a car, or on a diamond ring for her.

Ithaca, the location of his first teaching job, was 150 miles from Buffalo and he wanted to get home on weekends to see her. Therefore he needed a car.

He asked her at that point if she would rather have a diamond ring, or for him to have a car to see her on weekends.

"What do you think I'd say?" she said, "The car."

He found a two-year-old 1937 Chevy business coupe, with only 400 miles on it and bought it for $410. He had saved $100 and got a $300 loan for which his father cosigned.

She was in the basement of her house doing the laundry one day at Christmastime when he went down there and proposed to her.

"I couldn't afford the diamond," he said, saying his salary at the time was $1,200 to $1,300 per year, and he had a $25 monthly car payment.

The ring that he gave her was made from the gold band his grandmother on his dad's side had, and a pearl that was from his mother.

Thirty-five years after they were married, Art had a student at UMD make a diamond ring set to give to her.

They said they have never had any major disagreements and said they believe compromise is important for marriage. For example, he agrees to wear earphones hooked into the TV when he watches it because she is concerned about causing noise for the neighbors, she said.

When she remarked that she does "very little for him," he mentioned that he does household work for her now because of her health.

"She's done it for 65 years, there's no reason I can't," he said.

Asked if either had any advice for people thinking about getting married, Art answered: "Stick it out during difficulties. You've made a commitment. A lot of people get married with the idea that it shouldn't be permanent."

"I wouldn't give any advice this day and age," Ruth said.

On Sunday, many people came to the Smiths' 65th wedding anniversary celebration, including some relatives from New York.

"It was wonderful," Art said Monday. "All kinds of people turned out."

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