Soldier fell in love at first typing class

In 1941, the Army Air Force sent John Benadom to Kinman Business University to learn to type. He planned to muddle through the class so he could go on to be trained as a teletype operator. What he didn’t know was that on the first night of class, he would meet the love of his life.

The instructor had the new group of students take a basic typing test. John scored minus 10 words per minute because he had so many errors. However, one young lady scored a whopping 70 wpm. John turned around in his seat to see who had such fast fingers. Later he recalled, “She was the prettiest girl I’d ever seen.”

That pretty girl, 19-year-old Jean Starry, was sent upstairs to a more advanced class, while John toiled below with the rest of the beginners.

When class finished, Jean found John waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. “He asked me if I had a way to get home,” she said. “I was going to take the bus, but he offered to drive me.”

Stationed at Fort George Wright, John, 23, had enlisted after attending Iowa State University for two years. He knew he’d soon be drafted and he didn’t want to dig foxholes in the Army or spend months at sea in the Navy. He also knew a good thing when he saw it.

In their North Side living room he glanced at Jean and said, “When I met her I started seeing her on a regular basis.”

Indeed, he put a lot of miles on his Pontiac coupe. The couple got engaged in that car just after midnight on Oct. 27, 1941. “My brother’s birthday was October 26, so we waited until after midnight to get engaged,” Jean said.

They’d planned to marry Jan. 17, but Jean’s grandmother died suddenly on Jan. 15. The family needed to attend the funeral, so the wedding was pushed up a day.

“My wedding ring has 1/17/42 engraved on it, but we actually married on January 16,” Jean said.

The wedding took place in her parents’ home. A snapshot shows the bride and groom posing on a snowy front porch.

They settled into their downtown apartment, but after five months together John was sent to Australia. Jean was already expecting their first child. He wouldn’t meet his daughter, Ann, until she was 2 years old.

All he recalls of the voyage to Australia was that it took a long time to get there. Alzheimer’s has muddied his memories. He smiled at Jean, “She remembers a lot more than I do.”

He does remember the letters that flew back and forth across the ocean. “She kept me posted real well with letters,” he said.

When he finally arrived home in 1945, Ann took one look at him and fled the room. “She’d only seen pictures of Daddy,” Jean explained. “But she warmed up to him pretty quickly.”

The couple enjoyed a long-delayed honeymoon in California courtesy of the military. “They put us up in a hotel they’d commandeered,” Jean recalled.

After three years of marriage they’d only spent five months together, so the time away was especially welcome.

Finally back home in Spokane, their family grew with the arrival of Mary in 1946 and Ginny in 1948. Steady jobs with good wages were hard to come by, so in 1948 John returned to the military.

His outfit was sent to Japan in 1950. He missed the birth of his first child and the birth of his last. Daughter Carol arrived on his birthday, Dec. 18.

Jean’s mom called him with the news. She was crying because she had to tell him the baby was another girl. He told her, “That’s OK, I wanted all girls.”

He smiled at the memory. “It would have been nice to have a boy, but I wasn’t disappointed.”

John came home when Carol was 4 months old. “I put her in his arms and said, ‘Here’s your birthday present,’ ” Jean recalled.

The family was frequently separated by John’s military assignments. “You do a lot of traveling in the Air Force,” he said. “Germany, England, Japan, Labrador – I was all over the place.”

Jean cared for the children and learned how to drive while he was away. She shrugged. “I got used to it. I took over paying all the bills and everything. It was too awkward changing it back and forth.”

John sighed. “I would have much rather been home in Spokane,” he said. “But the Air Force was good to us.”

Because of his absences the family made sure to enjoy time together when he was home. For many years they took long road trips every summer. They’d sing and play games – making family memories that John has since forgotten, but his daughters treasure.

He retired from the Air Force in 1963, finally able to stay in the home he loved. He worked for Deer Park Pine and for Kmart for many years, while Jean took in ironing for 39 years to earn some spending money.

Even without the children they enjoyed road trips together until ill health put an end to their travels. “He liked to drive, I liked to navigate,” she said.

John, 97 and Jean, 93, celebrated their 73rd anniversary in January. Though the daily realities of caring for a husband with Alzheimer’s can be wearing, Jean wouldn’t have it any other way. “I miss our conversations,’” she admitted. “He had a great sense of humor. He used to have a fount of stories, but it did get so I could say them word for word.”

When asked the secret to a seven-decade marriage, John shrugged. “I’m pretty much used to it,” he said. Then he smiled at Jean. “She takes good care of me.”