It began in a little schoolhouse in Mississippi during
the 20s. Just a boy and a girl in elementary school, passing notes and talking
constantly. To solve all of the disruptions this little boy and little girl
created in class, the teacher separated them. Jack Lee and Ouida Waldrop were
just children, growing up together in the tiny schoolhouse but they didn’t know
they would grow old together as well.
They both had grown up poor. Jack came from a family of
eight children. His father was a train engineer, but his mother wanted to
settle in the country. They moved to Brookhaven on a farm where Jack and all of
his siblings worked. His father was gone to work on the trains a lot, but him
and his siblings made the best of it swimming in a creek or playing ball.
Ouida was the oldest of nine children and grew up in the
country in Mississippi with her family who sharecropped. Everyone in the family
helped, and eventually they had enough to buy their own patch of farmland near
Brookhaven. Despite all the hard work, the children still had fun picking
blackberries and reading by the fire.
As they entered high school, they remained close and became
even closer. They were dating one another and as the Mississippi weather heated
up, so did their love. Ouida had to move with her family for a while because
they were out of work. The couple was devastated. Jack couldn’t go without
seeing her. This is where it begins to sound like something straight out of a
Nicholas Sparks book. Ouida was sitting in the sand in her yard looking at the
dry cracked road and thinking of Jack, when she suddenly saw someone walking
towards her. Her wonderful boyfriend had walked and hitch-hiked about 150 miles
across the state of Mississippi to see her!
Jack was still in
high school and Ouida had just graduated from East Lincoln High School. Their
love had grown to where the only thing they could think of was to get married.
Only 17 years old, they came up with a plan to elope. The couple said that they
were going to a play at school, when really, they were about to leave and go to
another county. They borrowed someone’s car and five dollars and drove to a
preacher’s house where they got married. They were just wearing their normal
clothes so they wouldn’t be asked any questions because they told no one. Jack
drove them back to Lincoln County and the two parted and went home to their
families. Their wedding was on October 24th 1940.
It became difficult for Ouida and Jack, hardly spending time
together and keeping their marriage a secret. The only option was to tell their
families. Once they did, they moved back and forth living a few weeks with the
Waldrops and a few with the Lees. Shortly after that, they moved to Savannah
Georgia where Jack’s brother lived. Jack worked at a paper company and Ouida
attended secretarial school. Also during their time in Savannah, they went to the
Church of the Nazarene which influenced them in the rest of their lives.
Sadly, more separation was to come for Ouida and Jack. He
served in the Navy in 1942 to 1945 and was soon sent overseas to the Philippines.
They sent each other letters and pictures; Jack sent her one on July 24th
1945 and wrote, “I love you darling, Jack.” Later during the war Jack was
stationed near Savannah but was sent to Texas and Florida. Ouida found time to
go visit him, and when she wasn’t there, she worked for an Army General. On December 5th,
1945 Jack was off duty and could be back with his true love.
One year later they began attending Bethany Nazarene College
in Oklahoma. They made many friends and began to become established church
members. Ouida worked in the church office while Jack taught a Sunday school
class for 12 year old boys. Jack decided to become a preacher, and they
received their first pastorate in the town of Hooker, Oklahoma.
At the age of 28, Ouida had her first child, Dinah Kay. Not
long after, they moved to Kansas City to work at another church. They then had
another baby girl, Jennifer Gay. Their church, family, and of course their
love, grew. Again they moved, this time to Newport, Kentucky. The church was
sad, but new opportunities came and so did a new baby girl: my mom. Rebecca
Lynn was born on December 24th, 1959. They moved to Baltimore, Maryland
and pastored there for a while next. Constantly moving around, they arrived in
Kankakee, Illinois in 1964 where they lived for about 5 years. The girls made a
lot of friends, and another daughter was born: Jacqueline Beth. Jack and Ouida
were 46 years old!
The church in Illinois threw Jack and Ouida a party for
their 25th anniversary, but they soon left for Georgia. This was
their most beloved church family and it was hard to leave them, but Jack was
called to be District Superintendent of Georgia. He spent a lot of time
traveling and meeting people of the churches around Georgia. Ouida stayed home
with her girls during the week, and on weekends they often visited nearby
churches.
Dinah soon graduated, as well as Jenni who graduated early.
They went off to college and it was just Becki and Jackie at home. But a tragedy
soon arose. Jackie crawled into the street while a babysitter was taking care
of her and was hit by a car and killed at 22 months old. Even though everyone
was sad and grieving, the family loved each other and Jack and Ouida never
became unpleasant with one another.
The family went on several little vacations, even though the
girls were all growing up. Becki soon went off to college and in time, all three
daughters were married. They had a special day to celebrate Jack and Ouida’s 41st
anniversary in 1981.
Just months later Jack became diagnosed with mesothelioma.
He could no longer fight the horrid disease, and died on March 14, 1982. Him
and Ouida’s love stayed strong through all those years, and in the last moment
she is what he was thinking of. With his last breath, he whispered, “Ouida.”
This is the true love story of Jack and Ouida Lee. My mother
typed it and created a scrapbook timeline of their romance. I’m retelling it in
my own way, but everything I wrote is absolutely true! It sounds just like
something out of a movie. If every married couple had a love like this there
would be no divorces. This is the kind of love everyone should wait for and
find; one that will last through pain and separation, and grows after fighting
these battles. I want a marriage like theirs. They made it seem easy, though I’m
sure at times it wasn’t. But pulling through is the most important thing. You
have to remember what you love about someone.
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