Indio residents are longest married couple in U.S. at 83 years
The longest married couple in the United States lives here in the valley, and they’re celebrating their 83rd wedding anniversary on Sunday.
Ralph and Dorothy Kohler got married on September 16th, 1935. They were 16 and 17 years old at the time.
This year, the couple celebrated their 99th and 100th birthdays this year.
Reporter Jake Ingrassia asked the question on everyone’s mind — what’s their secret?
“Just agreeing on things — and we both like the same thing,” Ralph said.
“I like to cook and you like to eat,” Dorothy added.
Now they like to play cards together in their Sun City Shadow Hills home in Indio but in their younger years they say they were always busy.
“I love to hunt waterfowl and she accepted that and she loved to dance and I accepted that,” Ralph said. “I like to shoot clay targets and she accepted that and became a national champion.”
Ralph wrote a book on hunting, winning a lifetime achievement award. The couple also built an impressive career competing nationwide at Dorothy’s favorite pastime too, ballroom dancing. They earned more than 300 awards.
In the process of all that, they also built a family of 5 generations.
“7 grandchildren, 6 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren,” Dorothy said. “That don’t happen too often either does it.”
The Kohlers are celebrating their anniversary Sunday with a family brunch. Some of that 5 generation legacy is flying in from around the country for the milestone.
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