The street where eternal love blossoms

ELK RIVER, Minn. - In Sherburne County, Minnesota, Elk River is the county seat.

And in Elk River, Holt Avenue and 5th Street Northwest is the “love seat.”

That’s where love has apparently come to stay for several couples, married for more than 50 years.

Wally and Gayle Fox have been side-by-side for 52 years.

“I took one look at him and I said, 'I’m going to marry him,'” said Gayle.

By her side, Wally responded with a laugh, “She just knew a good thing when she saw it, that’s all.”

The Foxes count themselves among six couples on their block married more than 50 years.

Their neighbors, Kathy and Hartley Dahl, were 17 and 20, respectively, when they tied the knot.

“He’s a good man,” said Kathy. “He works hard and he cares about me, I know.”

Henry and Mario Tembrock, also neighbors to the Foxes and Dahls, have also been together 52 years, and they’re just warming up.

Don Coder and his wife Joyce have been married 65 years, and they’re not even the legends on the block.

That honor would go to Pearl and Ralph Stahlberg, married in 1942—70 years ago.

“Happy as can be,” said Pearl of their relationship.

“Just like we were in our right minds,” Ralph joked.

They’re celebrating love in a neighborhood where marriage still means something—for better, or worse.

Roger Otsby met his wife Hannah in high school. They’ve been married 64 years.

“She was my sweetheart then and still is,” said Roger. “No matter what the circumstances are.”

Unfortunately, those circumstances include Hannah, a victim of Alzheimer ’s disease, confined to a nursing home.

Still, Roger sits with her every day before he goes home and sits alone. Loyal after all these years.

“Well, I tell you, I think when something like this happens where they’re vulnerable,” Roger said thoughtfully, “it’s even deeper. The love you have for each other. It is for me.”

Perhaps there’s something in the water in the neighborhood, or love in the air.

With our nation’s fabric ripped by divorce, six couples on the same block have kept their unions intact for more than half a century through love and hard work.

And in case you’re thinking of taking the plunge into marital bliss yourself, there is another home for sale on the block at Holt Avenue and 5th Street Northwest.

Perhaps it could be yours for the next 50 years and then some.