Ben L. Jr. and Fern H. Graham of Clearfield celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary with an open house at Mountain View Baptist Church, the church which started in their living room in 1950.?They were married on Oct. 18, 1939, in Clearfield at the home of Melvin Woods. He was born to Ben L. Graham Sr. and Eddie April Pass Graham in Goldthwaite, Texas, on Aug. 8, 1918. He attended Hardin Simmons University, served in the U.S. Army and is a veteran of World War II. He worked at the Naval Supply Depot for 20 years and 13 years at Hill Air Force Base as a quality control inspector on F-4 aircraft. He and his wife and children owned and operated Clearfield Nursery & Power Equipment for 54 years.?She was born to Richard Henry Hamblin and Hazel Thurgood on Dec. 31, 1921, in Clearfield in the home next to their current residence. Besides the nursery, she worked at the Davis Drive-in Theatre, Woods Cross and Smith’s canning factories and Booth’s, making army mess kits. Her grandfather, Richard Hamblin, was the first settler in Clearfield.?The couple enjoyed many travels in their motor home as snowbirds and now enjoy spending time with their family and together, feeding the birds. They say “they are still each other’s ‘sugar babes’ and as much in love as the first day they met.”?Their children and their spouses are Ben R. Graham, Clearfield; Jim and Lyndia Graham, Layton; Sid and Terry Graham, Layton; Ed and Jackie Graham, West Point; and Becky and Lennie Davis, Clinton. They have 21 grandchildren, 43 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.

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