On a summer day many years ago, Bette and Jay Smith and Ruth and Walt Stevens ventured out on one of their many adventures together. But this one was a bit different. Both had earlier purchased headstones from Kallin-Johnson Monument Co. The headstones needed a place to rest. So they decided to purchase adjoining burial plots at Corpus Christi Cemetery.

To Corpus Christi Catholic Church they went to write out personal checks and buy the plots. That accomplished, they went out for lunch.

When Bette was laid to rest June 19, next to her beloved Jay and several feet from the headstone and gravesite of Ruth and Walt, it was the final fulfillment of that outing.

They were all together again.

Jay had been the first of them to pass, in 2001, at the age of 79, following a series of strokes. Ruth was next, in 2011, at 92. And Walt was the third, in 2013, at 96.

Bette was 100 years young when she died June 13 at the Simpson House at Friendship Haven, where like the Stevens, she had been a resident in later years.

Their story began 60 years ago when Jay Smith was appointed advertising director of The Messenger and moved from Fairmont, West Virginia, to Fort Dodge with Bette and their children Brad, Pam and Scott. (Jay later served as publisher of The Messenger.)

Walter Stevens was editor of the newspaper and they soon became friends as well as work colleagues. That friendship expanded to include both wives and children. Like the Smiths, the Stevens had three children close to the same ages – a firstborn boy (Paul), a girl in the middle (Jan) and then another boy (Dave).

Travel would become a big part of the lives of the two couples as retirement approached and their kids were off to college and into the workforce. Bette and Jay and Ruth and Walt took many bus tours together that would originate in Fort Dodge and carry them to both coasts and in between, seeing the many wonderful historical and scenic sites of our country while making new friends and renewing old friendships.

The two couples spent most New Year’s Eves together for many years, playing cards and ushering in a new year. Jay was an avid woodworker and some of his work was displayed in the Stevens’ house.

Jay missed his call as a comedian, my brother Dave swears — “he was hilarious.” Many was the time he’d bring Ruth to tears of uncontrolled laughter. He was Santa Claus to the Stevens’ grandchildren and great grandchildren, getting a temporary leave from his own family and dressed in a Santa Claus suit to visit Ruth and Walt’s house on Christmas morning — to the delight of mesmerized kids.

One year when Walt was attending an annual convention of fellow World War II Army officers and their wives, he asked Jay to come along and portray an officious Army general as a keynote speaker. “The General,” bedecked in Army uniform with four stars, brought the house down.

Bette and Jay were loyal Iowa State Cyclone fans, and the Stevens were big fans of the Iowa Hawkeyes. The rivalry made for some interesting discussions at the Village Inn, where they had a breakfast tradition.

Like everyone’s lives, there came heartaches and challenging times for both couples and their families. The Smiths and Stevens were there for each other when times were not so good.

If you believe in the afterlife, one can imagine the two couples reunited in Heaven. Bette and Jay together again with daughter Pam (Smith Nesbit, who died in 2017). Jay and Walt at work for The Heavenly Messenger. Bette conducting water aerobics classes. Bette and Ruth trading stories and favorite recipes.

And both couples planning their next adventures in the stars.