Staff Writer

 Their first photos together have long since faded, but the love between Roy and Ruth Baker endures.

The Ocean Park couple will celebrate their 70^th wedding anniversary June 18. The milestone may amaze those around them, but for the Bakers it’s just another day in their “blessed” life.

The Bakers’ love story began in 1940 in Melrose, Mass., when Ruth was looking for a boy to invite to a high school dance.

“My girlfriends I met in high school had grown up with Roy since first grade. They said ‘Oh, invite Roy,’” she said.

Though she didn’t know Roy, she made the call to ask her shy classmate to the dance.

“Well, that was it. I called him and we’ve been together ever since,” she said.

Roy said he knew who Ruth was “but I didn’t think I had a chance with her. It was kind of a pleasant surprise to be invited.”

“Thanks to his girlfriend,” Ruth teased. “He should blame them.”

After the dance, their relationship blossomed during long walks to the movie theater and between their homes on opposite ends of town.

With a world war looming on the horizon, the couple knew Roy would likely be drafted. They made a “spur of the moment” decision to elope shortly after graduating from high school, Ruth said.

“It just seemed the right fit, that we were made for each other. I’d gone out with star athletes and all the glamour boys, and they didn’t have what Roy had,” she said. “He had the sincerity, the caring, those kinds of things that all of a sudden you realize are very important. Basically marriage is made up of TLC, which means trusting, loving and caring for each other.”

Roy said he knew he’d found the perfect woman for him because of Ruth’s personality and her joyfulness for life.

“We’re very compatible,” he said. “We always used to take hikes, go skiing, all the fun things.”

Ruth and Roy went to New Hampshire to be married by a justice of the peace. She was 17 and he was 18.

“And it’s been happily ever after,” Ruth said.

They returned to Melrose to deliver their happy news to their “rather stunned” parents, Ruth said. Before long, Roy headed off to war wrote letters to his young bride whenever he could.

Back in Massachusetts, Ruth worked as a dental assistant and looked after their new daughter, Linda. Their family would eventually grow to include their son, Jeffrey, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

After Roy returned from the war, he worked 30 years as a firefighter and EMT in Melrose. Ruth dedicated much of her time to volunteering in the community, including serving as chairman of the Well Baby Clinic for 20 years.

Through the years they have enjoyed their time traveling and playing golf, but nothing compares to the time they spend with their family.

“I think family is the most important thing,” Roy said.

“We spend as much time with them as we can,” Ruth added.

Megan Weaver said her grandparents are the loving foundation the four generations of the Baker-O’Leary-Weaver family. She said the youngest children in the family love spending time with their “Bubba Roy and Bubba Ruth.”

Linda OLeary said her parents have set an example for those around them that family truly is most important.

“It’s utterly amazing,” Weaver said of her grandparents’ anniversary. “Just to be able to say 70 years, I don’t know anyone who is actually as healthy as they are and are able to make it. You hear 50 and 60 years, but I honestly think this is such a tribute to marriage and family.”

Ruth said she hadn’t given much thought to the 70^th anniversary until a friend brought it up.

“He said ‘Ruthie, I don’t know anyone else who has been married 70 years. I thought oh, that’s funny, I don’t think I know anyone either,” she said. “I never looked at it that way until someone brought to my attention that that is a long time.”

Though they say their life together so far has been wonderful, it hasn’t been without bumps in the road. Ruth and Roy were each diagnosed with cancer within a week of each other last year. With the support of their family, they both went through treatment and are now healthy and back on the golf course.

“We’ve had an extremely good life. There’s not one thing we haven’t done,” Roy said.

“I haven’t gotten a hole in one yet,” Ruth said with a laugh.  “What is the saying? Hope springs eternal.”

Ruth and Roy will celebrate their anniversary on a vacation with their entire family.

“We’ve been blessed with a wonderful, caring family,” Ruth said. “We’re just very, very lucky.”

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.