Love story: Joneses staying by each other’s side for 58 years and counting

A blind date at North Bowl turned into happily-ever-after for Jerry and Trudy Jones.

Jerry graduated from Gonzaga Prep in 1954 and spent two years on active duty in the Army after being drafted. He’d returned to Spokane and was managing a local grocery store.

Trudy had graduated from Marycliff High School in 1958 and was working at a downtown doctor’s office.

“The wife of Jerry’s best friend worked in the office next to me,” Trudy recalled. “She’d mentioned Jerry was home.”

One day as Trudy walked past her friend’s glass-walled office, the woman pointed frantically to the phone at her ear.

“Jerry’s on the phone,” she said. “Do you want to go out with him?”

Trudy paused.

“Ask him if he’s rich or good-looking,” she said.

Jerry’s reply?

“Tell her I’m good-looking.”

That was enough to snag a date.

They’d both recently ended engagements and that night at the bowling alley, they both enjoyed their teasing banter.

“On our second date, she joined me at the grocery store to do inventory,” said Jerry. “We just hit it off.”

In their North Side home, Trudy smiled.

“By our third date we both fell head over teakettle.”

Their first date occurred April 22, 1961, and they celebrate that anniversary every year. By November, they were engaged, and they married at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church on Jan. 13, 1962.

Jerry continued managing the grocery store while taking night classes. He took night classes for many years, finally graduating from Eastern Washington University in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts in marketing.

Trudy had her hands full managing things at home.

Son Kevin, arrived in March 1963, followed by Scott in February 1964, Greg in February 1965, and Rick in February 1966.

“I was just born to be a mom,” she said. “I worked part time for most of my life. I guess I got tired, but I didn’t know any better.”

Daughter Tami arrived in May 1968, and Trish completed the family in February 1970.

“We also took care of my mom,” Jerry said. “She died the night I graduated from college. She waited to know that I’d graduated.”

Jerry had a decision to make. For several years he traveled with the Fred Meyer company, teaching their management training course. Now he needed to decide whether to stay in the grocery business, or take the offer of a teaching job at Spokane Community College. He chose teaching and never looked back.

“I started a supermarket checker training program,” he said.

He then went on to teach management training and earn a master’s degree from EWU.

“I loved teaching,” Jerry said of his 47-year career.

Trudy nodded.

“His students became our other kids.”

They raised their family on a sprawling 3 acres in Chattaroy, eventually moving back into town as their nest emptied.

“Expo ‘74 was a fun year with our children,” Trudy said.

The family of eight packed into their Volkswagen, and parked on the North Side of what’s now Riverfront Park, so they wouldn’t have to pay for parking.

When their daughter Trish was in high school, Trudy took a job at Gonzaga University, and began taking night classes.

“I’d always wanted to go to college, but when I told my dad it would be fun to go, he said he couldn’t afford that kind of fun,” she recalled.

In 1993, Trudy graduated summa cum laude, alongside their daughter Tami.

“It got pretty hectic,” Jerry said. “She was going to quit her senior year, and I said, ‘No way! You’ve come this far!’”

In 1987, the couple enjoyed a European adventure when Jerry accepted a temporary teaching position in Budapest, Hungary. Trudy ended up teaching ESL classes, and for six months they explored Europe.

“It was the experience of a lifetime,” she said.

Life didn’t slow down much for Trudy when Jerry retired in 1993. An avid organizer, Trudy was instrumental in setting up Marycliff reunions every 10 years.

“It’s time to plan something for our 65th which is right around the corner,” she said.

She also began writing and joined the Poetry Scribes of Spokane.

Her poetry is included in anthologies, and in 2016, she was chosen by Spokane Garden Clubs as Lilac Poet of the year.

As the couple reflected on their 58 years of marriage, Trudy, 79, noted that long marriages run her family.

“The eight of us siblings have a combined 396 years of marriage with no divorces,” she said. “At our wedding my older brother (a man of few words) took me aside for a moment and said, ‘Treat him like a king.’ It surprised me, but I took that message to heart and tried to do just that. In return, Jerry always treated me with highest regard.”

Jerry, 84, credits his wife for maintaining their home and family, and for fostering his relationship with their children when he was gone so much.

“I’d come home and she’d say to the kids, ‘Who’s your favorite man in the word?’ and they’d all say, ‘Daddy!’” he recalled. “Now, they respect me a lot and I think that’s to do with her.”

For her part, Trudy said she appreciates her husband’s “total caring and honesty.”

“We enjoy each other’s company,” she said.

Looking across the table at him, she grinned.

“And I love his chin. He has such a cute chin. I can’t help loving him.”