Traditional wedding vows conclude with “For as long as we both shall live.” However, for Luise Sexton, 95, of Remlik, her wedding vows continue to this day long after her husband William passed away.
Their bond began in Heidelberg, West Germany, in 1957, when he was with the U.S. Army and she was 27 years old working in a restaurant. Looking from the kitchen, Luise had noticed him before always sitting by the juke box. “He always smiled,” she recalled recently.
She got promoted to be a waitress and that was her chance to meet William. When he came in with a friend and sat at table eight, William’s friend tried to make a date with Luise, but William spoke up telling his friend, “She’s not going out with you, she’s going with me.”
He looked at Luise for confirmation, “Aren’t you?”
There was no doubt in her. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”
And so began their lifelong journey.
They had three wedding ceremonies. Under German law they had to be married at the courthouse. Then they had two church ceremonies — one in Germany and another in the United States. “That’s why our marriage lasted,” said Luise adding, “I had a good husband, one of the best!”
Journey
Luise found stability in America that was lacking in Germany. Her mother had died when she was 7 years old and under German law, when a mother dies her children were sent to an orphanage, Luise explained. Two years later, World War II started when Germany invaded Poland in 1939.
Six years later with Germany in shambles, the Russians were closing in from the east. Her father rousted his children in the middle of the night telling them “Let’s go!” They left with only what they could carry, heading for Baden-Baden. Their dog followed but they had to give it to a farmer.
Her father had been discharged from the German army due to nerve problems, and worked as a gardener and truck driver.
Moving
They eventually settled in Heidelberg, where years later William came into Luise’s life. I picked him, and I made a good pick.”
Living in Remlik, a few miles west of Urbanna, Luise was homesick. She had lived in cities and living in the “country” in a two room house was foreign to her. William offered to borrow money to buy her a ticket back to Germany, but Luise declined. “I stayed. That’s how much I loved him. Nothing bothered me because I had William. I stuck by him and he stuck by me.”
William’s mother lived next door and that was comforting. The late Marie Stallings and Nell Jones became good friends along with the congregation of Remlik Wesleyan Church. Orneida Bull, a nearby neighbor, still checks on Luise regularly.
Advice
William was a preacher, who spoke where invited. He was never paid other than a dozen eggs or so. He was “man of the year” at Remlik Wesleyan Church.
They raised three children, Michael of Richmond, Mary Luise of Virginia Beach, and Stevie, who lives closest in Water View.
For income, Luise cared for children most of her life. From them she learned and practiced speaking English. And many will remember her fondly. Soon after she arrived in Middlesex, a student from Middlesex High School brought her the books to study to become an American citizen.
Luise has alway had God in her life and continues to have devotions in the morning and evening. “Keep God in your life,” is her advice. “Without Him you can’t do anything.”
