State - Muskegon In sickness and health, good times and bad Michigan couple shares stories of their 82 years of marriage

By Susan Harrison Wolffis The Muskegon Chronicle MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) -- Charles Pierce remembers the very first time he laid eyes on Opal Hyrns, the woman he'd eventually convince to marry him. He was visiting her brother at home after work one day when she just happened to walk into the room. "I saw all that blonde platinum hair," he says, "and I thought she was the most beautiful girl in the world." After 82 years of marriage, he still does. "Oh, go on," she teases him, waving her hand in a gesture of feigned protest. "Go on with you." No, he insists. Charles Pierce is a man of many words, and he wants his say. He's waited all morning to divulge what he's been storing in his heart, just for the occasion. "The Lord's been good to me," he tells her, suddenly overcome with emotion. "I've had a good life, a good wife ... you. It brings me to tears." She watches him, shakes her head, then smiles. She starts to say something, shrugs her shoulders, then sits back in her chair and waits for the words to come. "Go on," she says again, and in the end, it's all that's needed. There's plenty of time for reflection these days for Charles and Opal Pierce, a Muskegon couple whose story bears telling, if for no other reason than their long lives and marriage. On June 8, Opal Pierce celebrated her 100th birthday, complete with cake, candles, family and friends. On Oct. 19, it's her husband's turn for a birthday cake -- with 103 candles burning bright this year. "I say I'm already 103," he says. "I figure I'm closer to 103 than I am 102." Their ages alone have to set some kind of standard, meet some kind of record: a husband and wife who have both reached the century mark. Add to that the fact they've been married 82 years. And then for the rest of the story: The Pierces still live alone in the house they built more than 60 years ago in the Muskegon Catholic Central High School neighborhood. Their health isn't as good as it once was. She's just had back surgery. He needs a cane to get around because he has troubles with his legs, but all in all, Charles Pierce says, "You've got to be healthy to live this long." They've just recently started receiving regular home health care, and their nephew, Monte Hyrns of Muskegon, keeps a watchful eye on the two. But Charles Pierce still gets breakfast started every morning, and he still drives his car to the drugstore and doctor's office, even at his age -- and as his nephew teases him, he always makes it home. "I still ride with him," Opal Pierce confides. "When I don't, you'll know it's time to stop." And so it goes with them. There is a playfulness between them, still after all these years. Try asking what the secret is to a long marriage, and Charles Pierce says, "We've never had a bit of trouble." Ask Opal Pierce, and she quips: "You've got to be able to stand up and fight a little. It makes it interesting." Maybe it's because they got married on Jan. 26, 1928, in the stormy days before the Great Depression that they know how to make it through tough times. They've weathered the Depression, World War II and all the highs and lows that came after -- even at home. Their only child, Charles, a boy they called "Buddy," died when he was 23 years old from complications from a burst appendix. "I should have sued the doctors," Charles Pierce says, his voice shaking again. Life continued, but never quite as sweetly. For 57 years, he worked at West Michigan Steel Foundry, finally retiring as the technical director. "The Lord just seemed to follow me," he says. "Jobs fell into place for me. I say it was luck, luck, luck because wherever I went, by gosh, I ended up on the top list." After he retired in 1972, he was active in several trade organizations, including serving a term as the national director of the Foundrymen's Society. Opal Pierce, who was a homemaker, traveled with him on the job and in retirement. "I'm proud to say my wife never had to go to work to help support me," he says. They spend most of their days together, still in one another's company. "I feel good this morning," he says. "The sun is shining. My wife looks pretty. It looks like it's going to be a good day." Although Charles Pierce has two younger half-brothers still living, both he and his wife are the only survivors of their generation. "We're the last of the Mohicans, aren't we?" he asks her. Their closest relative is their nephew, Monte Hyrns, who is related on both sides of the family. Opal Pierce's brother married Charlie Pierce's sister -- Monte's parents. "They're good people," Monte Hyrns says. "They've taught me good values, real good values, and he taught me good financial sense." Charles Pierce, who grew up in North Muskegon by Bear Lake channel, dropped out of school in the eighth grade. He didn't have transportation to Muskegon High School, so many miles away. Besides, he wanted to get started on a job at the Amazon Knitting Co., where he worked with and befriended Opal Hyrns' brother. "It's quite a story," he says. Since he was a boy, Charles Pierce has collected records and stories about the Pierce family who lay claim to having a U.S. president, a pioneer fur trader and the famous American-Indian Pocahontas -- who befriended John Smith at Jamestown -- as relatives. Although the others can be verified, Pocahontas might just be family lore. "That's what my dad and uncles always said," Charles Pierce says. "I always thought it was poppycock, but I guess it is true. We had a lot to do with the making of America, I would say." His great-grandfather, Capt. Benjamin K. Pierce, was the brother of the 14th U.S. President Franklin Pierce, who served from 1853-57. Benjamin Pierce was the commandant of Fort Mackinac, a military outpost on Mackinac Island, where he met and married Josette LaFramboise, daughter of the famous Madeline LaFramboise -- one of the most successful fur traders in early Michigan. Madeleine LaFramboise established the first trading post on Muskegon Lake in 1810. She also set up a post near Grand Haven. Madeleine LaFramboise is in the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame for her place in history. He's unsure how or why his father, Frederick Pierce, landed in Muskegon, but he had his own share of historical presence. The senior Pierce worked at the Gow and Campbell sawmill in North Muskegon, the last working sawmill when it closed in 1914. "Really, my family's history is the city's history and the state's, if you look it up," he says. By comparison, Opal Pierce's family tree is slightly less star-studded. "You can only take one in a family," she says. Besides, this is time for the two of them, still celebrating her 100th birthday and being together every single day. "How'd we do it?" he asks. "She loved me, I guess, and I loved her." He looks her way for her approval. She shifts in her chair, her hair still platinum blonde, still pretty, and she meets his gaze. "Go on," she says. "Go on with you." Published: Tue, Jul 6, 2010

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