Announcing my 70th wedding anniversary

Freddy and Verda

Courtesy of Freddy Detherage

I met the “girl of my life” back in the 1950s. Her name was Verda Mae Measures. We were introduced by a friend of hers. The first time I met her she had parts of her hair rolled. We had a first date a few days later.

I was drafted into the army in December 1953 and went to Korea. I stayed there for 14 months. While I was in Korea, I wrote to Verda. I then came back to Texas and was stationed in El Paso. That is when we began dating.

While I was stationed in El Paso, I would drive from El Paso to Weatherford every other weekend to see Verda. It was a 1,200-mile round-trip journey to see her. We got serious and became engaged while I was still in El Paso. I got out of the service in December 1954 and we got married on June 25, 1955.

We bought a house from my uncle. The house was up in the Lake Weatherford area. We had the house moved to Aledo onto the same location where our house is now. The house lacked a little being ready to move into, so we rented for about four or five months, then we moved in. We lived in that house until 1981.

That house burned in 1981, and so we rented a mobile home and lived in it until our house was built. On March 13, 1982, we moved into our new house. We still live in that house today. We have lived in that same location since 1955.

After we got married, we had our first child in 1961. That child was a girl, and we named her Deanna Ann. Five years later, we got our son, Robert Brantley.

We have been blessed with two children, five grandchildren, and 11 great grandchildren.

Verda Mae Measures was born in Weatherford and lived there until we married. Aledo has been her home for 70 years.

I, Freddy Brantley Detherage, was born in Aledo and have lived here all my life — 93 years.

Many have asked me the secret to staying married 70 years. I tell them there is just a lot of “yes ma’am.”

The anniversary celebration is 2-4 p.m. on June 29, 2025 at the Aledo Church of Christ. Friends and family are invited to celebrate with us.