Jeanette and Robert “Bob” Shatters of Burlington celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary with family and friends on Sunday, at Blumen Gardens in Sycamore.
“It’s such a thrill to see everyone here,” said Jeanette.
The couple were wed on Jan. 25, 1947, at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Elgin. Jeanette once lived along Bird Street in Elgin and graduated from Elgin High School in 1946. Bob attended school in Hampshire and became a farmer. The couple met at a dance held at the Elgin YMCA.
Jeanette said their first home on her father-in-law’s farm had “three rooms and a path (to the outhouse).” The home had no running water.
The couple later moved to their own dairy and pig farm in Hampshire. When Bob quit farming, he worked at Playskool in Hampshire.
Jeanette worked as a legal secretary at an Elgin law firm and later as a secretary at Ripon Good Cookies when they lived in Green Lake, Wisconsin.
Bob and Jeanette have six children: Terri Hahn, Dale Shatters, Tom Shatters, Mary Schmitt, Bob Shatters Jr., and Karen Stuehler. They also have 18 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.
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Mary is married to Duane Schmitt, vice president of Central Community Unit School District 301 board. Mary has worked as secretary/registrar at Burlington Central High School for 18 years. Her sister, Karen, has been a secretary at Hampshire Middle School for nine years. The sisters said they were inspired to become secretaries because of their mom.
Denise Moran is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.