Football brought them together for winning match

Jean and Joe Overturf met at a junior high school football game in North Little Rock in 1946, and their first date was to a high school game a couple of weeks later. “We have loved each other through the years,” Joe says.
Jean and Joe Overturf met at a junior high school football game in North Little Rock in 1946, and their first date was to a high school game a couple of weeks later. “We have loved each other through the years,” Joe says.

Fortunately for Joe Overturf, the North Little Rock High School football team was scheduled to play away from home on the fall night in 1946 when his high school friends decided to take in a game. They went to the junior high football game that night instead, and that's where he met Jean Bell.

photo

Special to the Democrat-Gazette

Jean and Joe Overturf met when she was 14 and he was 17, and have been together their entire adult lives. “I just can’t imagine what it would be like without him,” she says. “We’ve been together so long, over the biggest part of our lives.”

Jean was a junior high student, and she was there with her own friends. Joe and his buddies were sitting near Jean and hers, and the groups intermingled in conversation. Joe and Jean, in particular, began chatting.

The first time I saw my future spouse:

She says: “I thought he was handsome. He had dark hair and brown eyes.”

He says: “She was just a girl. But she impressed me with her looks and the way she acted.”

On our wedding day:

She says: “We went back to North Little Rock to eat dinner that night at a restaurant where my sister-in-law worked.”

He says: “Of course I was nervous. We are all nervous on those occasions.”

My advice for a lasting marriage is:

She says: “Put God first.”

He says: “You should go into it with the idea of staying married. You need to go into it with the expectation of fulfilling the promises that you made to your wife or husband and to God.”

"I thought he was handsome and all," she says.

Joe enjoyed talking with her, although he can't recall all these years later what they might have discussed.

"She looked nice and she talked nice," he says of that young Jean, whose light brown hair he noticed had a reddish tint.

It was a week or two later that Joe called Jean to ask her for a date. She accepted his invitation and this time they went together to a high school football game.

Jean remembers going for a bicycle ride with a friend sometime during the early part of the courtship, and she made sure their route carried them past Joe's house.

"We did see him," she says. "We just stayed on our bikes and talked to him in front of his house."

They were young and didn't have much money to spare for entertainment, so they spent time with friends and at school events and even more time at each other's houses, sometimes at Joe's but more often at Jean's.

Before long, they decided they couldn't stand to be apart anymore.

They were married on March 29, 1947, in the Saline County Courthouse.

Jean's sister and brother-in-law had a car and they drove Joe and Jean to the courthouse, where they met their families before exchanging their vows.

Jean wore a new light blue suit that she had bought for the occasion.

"It was pretty, I thought," Jean says. "He wore a suit. After we were married we went to a restaurant to eat with our families."

The newlyweds lived with her parents for a while after marrying, and Jean stayed with them again after Joe was drafted to fight in the Korean War in 1952.

When he came back, they stayed in North Little Rock for a while before moving to Marianna, then to Memphis and then to Stuttgart -- where they live now -- as Joe pursued a career in accounting.

They had been married for more than 10 years when their first son was born. They have three children: David Overturf, who lives with his wife, Kathy, in Pineville, La.; Gary Overturf, who lives in Amite, La., with his wife, Karen; and Rick Overturf, who lives in Marion with his wife, Lynel. They have five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Joe retired from Riceland Foods in 1991, but he has continued working since then. He has two part-time accounting jobs, one for Southland Transport and one for First Christian Church of Stuttgart.

"At 87 years old he still goes to work every day," says Jean, who is retired from the Noah's Ark Baptist Day School at First Baptist Church in Stuttgart. "I don't know that most people his age do that, but he does."

The Overturfs' courtship kicked off at a football game, and they have made a point of going to football games together over the years.

"We like the Razorbacks, but most of the games we've gone to are high school games," Jean says.

Two of their sons played football, and they were in the stands for their games, of course. But even after their sons graduated and no longer played the sport, Joe and Jean made a point for years of following the Stuttgart Ricebirds football team, even on the road.

"We haven't gone lately because we have trouble getting up in the bleachers," she says.

Joe and Jean married so young -- they were 17 and 14 years old, respectively, when they met -- that they essentially grew up together in the early years of their marriage.

"I just can't imagine what it would be like without him," Jean says. "We've been together so long, over the biggest part of our lives."

To celebrate the Overturfs' marriage, there will be a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at First Baptist Church in Stuttgart.

"It was going to be a surprise, but my son said, 'I think we ought to tell them because Mama might want to get a new dress,'" Jean says. "I guess they kind of know me."

If you have an interesting how-we-met story or if you know someone who does, please call (501) 425-7228 or email:

kdishongh@sbcglobal.net

High Profile on 03/19/2017

Upcoming Events