Pete & Shirley’s Meeting

Pete & Shirley’s Meeting

[I recently asked Shirley how she and Pete met and about their wedding, who were the witnesses and why did they select that particular minister. The following is extracted from an eMail response from Shirley Howell dated 20 Jan 2013.]

Pete and Shirley met while Shirley was a student at American University. She worked at Colortone Press, an offset printer, as a receptionist/paste-up artist.  Her desk was a drawing board in the reception area.  Pete came in as a customer to order stationary and then called back later to invite her to have lunch. She agreed.  To her schoolgirl amazement, he took her to La Salle du Bois, then considered a most elegant restaurant in Washington. They piled caviar on her plate and she was very, very impressed.  They had another date.  Pete represented an adult world that Shirley was not used to, having previously only dated boys her age.  Pete was twelve years older, married, and had a (recently failed) export-import business. Pete said his wife was in Reno getting a divorce.  Pete took Shirley, in an almost formal way, to meet several of his friends and their wives. Through those meetings, Shirley confirmed what he was saying about his wife was true.

After dating for a few months, they decided to marry. They looked for a minister who would do it.  Things were more conservative then and many ministers would not marry divorcees. Pete’s father, a Baptist pastor, was willing to do it, but resistance from Shirley’s family was a barrier for him.  Aunt Betty was horrified and upset and absolutely would not come to the wedding, she said, nor would any of the rest of my family. So Pete’s family stayed away too, sympathetic but intent on doing what they felt was the right thing under the circumstances.

They found a Presbyterian minister in Bethesda, which is near  American University, who was willing to marry them.  Several of Shirley’s college friends provided emotional and material support that Shirley needed. Two of them signed as witnesses at the wedding.