Ella Mae Klain was on her way home from Minot, N.D., when her and a girlfriend stopped to have a cocktail before going home. That’s where Ella Mae met her husband for life. Raymond B. Keller thought she was a pretty girl, and it didn’t take him long to fall in love.

The couple met Oct. 13, 1950, and married a month and a half later on Dec. 6. “There was no proposal,” Ella Mae said. “We just decided to do it, and we didn’t have to get married – just for the record (which is what everyone thought!).”

The couple’s parents, Mike and Josephine Keller, along with Fred and Olga Klain, didn’t have time to give a blessing, and then there was a matter of different religions, so Ray and Ella Mae decided to elope. Who would have wanted to invite siblings along, 13 brothers and sisters, along with other family members? It would have been too much bother, and these two were in love.

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It was just a quick ceremony at the Baptist Church parsonage, Ella Mae said. “It was snowing like crazy, and by the time we left the pastor’s house, the tracks had already filled back up.”

The newlyweds followed a passenger bus that was routed from Bismarck, N.D., to Minot, N.D. Ray drove a 1937 Ford with good tires, he said. After the ceremony was done, the couple went back to Ella Mae’s parents’ home. “We took 83 South, and then back up to Garrison,” Ray said.

The tires on that old Ford must have been some good tread because into this union, Ray and Ella Mae brought nine children including David, Paul, Clifford, Bev, Sharon, Laura, Pam, Susan and Rick into this world, and raised one grandson, James. Today, the couple shares enjoyment with their 23 grandchildren, along with eight great-grandchildren.

Ray worked on the railroad till 1960, when he switched professions and went into road construction in Fargo, N.D., till his back couldn’t take the hard labor anymore. Ella Mae stayed at home raising the children util all were in school, and then she became a cook for 25 years. Ella Mae is famous for her German cooking. “I like anything she makes – beef stew, chicken, polish sausage and sauerkraut with mashed potatoes,” Ray said. And at the Keller home it wasn’t anything new to be feeding an extra child or two at the family table. “It was never quiet at our house,” Ella Mae said. “The kids always had extra friends at the house.”

Ray and Ella Mae reside at the Lodge at Lone Tree Creek, and there’s always romantic chatter between them. “He’s loveable and funny,” Ella Mae says, and he replies, “She’s a good woman, mother and wife, and she’s still pretty.”

The couple has fond memories of their 40th wedding anniversary, again traveling on icy roads to Billings. Even though the fan belt broke and roads were slick, the couple continued their journey to see a show in Billings – which they never made – due to the breakdown. “The kids wouldn’t let us turn back home,” Ella Mae said. “Our son and son-in-law, along with a grandkid wanted us to go look at some ‘land,’ so we followed.” The couple was surprised when they arrived at that ‘land’ where there was a crowd of people waiting to celebrate Ray and Ella Mae’s anniversary. “We weren’t ready for that. We weren’t even dressed up,” she said.

For the couple’s 50th anniversary, Ray and Ella Mae renewed their vows, with the bride holding a beautiful bouquet, at a church in Wolf Point.

That bubbly in a cocktail when they first met has kept the sparkle in their eyes all these years.

homespun@sidneyherald.com