110 years of marriage between them
Sometimes the people who are among the nearest and dearest in your life are the ones you met by chance.
Bob and Nancy Neff moved to Peachtree City in 1972. But a decade before that — June 17, 1961 — the couple became husband and wife in Cincinnati, Nancy’s hometown and not far from Bob’s native Dayton.
They chose to honeymoon in the Pocono Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania, which has always been a popular tourist spot but perhaps even more so 55 years ago.
“That was one of THE places to go,” said Bob. “It’s a pretty place.”
The Neffs spent a week in a honeymoon lodge there amid the beauty of that region and began their new life together.
That week they met John and Kathy Kutter, who married in Dayton the same day as the Neffs. The four of them became fast friends and enjoyed some time in the Poconos and nearby Scranton together before going their separate ways at the end of the week.
But it didn’t stop there. The Neffs and Kutters, though separated by hundreds of miles, have sought out each other’s company for a few days nearly every year since. Most recently they were together in Peachtree City last month to celebrate 110 years of marriage between the two couples.
It’s an accomplishment in itself for a couple to reach a 55th wedding anniversary without death or divorce. For two couples to do so after being married on the same day, and for those two couples to begin and maintain a close relationship – well, those odds must be astronomical. After all, had either of them married a week earlier or later, they likely would never had met.
The Neffs spent their first decade of married life in Dayton, where Bob worked at NCR’s headquarters. That company brought the family to Peachtree City 44 years ago and they’ve been there ever since.
The Kutters have lived in Vermont, North Carolina and Michigan during that time as well as Dayton. They now live in their hometown of Richmond, Indiana, where they have elderly parents.
Most of the couples’ time together has been spent at each other’s homes in any of the above locations. But the foursome has also traveled together to various other spots, from camping in Kentucky to vacations in Palm Springs and even as far as Germany.
“We’ve tried to get together once every year,” said Bob.
With the relationship beginning at the onset of their marriages it is no surprise that the children were about the same age and virtually grew up together. The Neffs have a daughter who lives in Peachtree City with her family, and their son lives in Henry County with his family. The Kutters recently welcomed their first great-grandchild.
The Kutters have expressed their affinity for Peachtree City during many visits over the years and have a winter residence near Ocala, Fla., in a community that has many similarities. He thinks they chose it in some respects because of those similarities.
Bob Neff, who retired from NCR and now works part-time in the county election office, appreciates the good fortune these two couples have seen by forging a long-term bond that began by accident, hundreds of miles from either couple’s home.
“It was strictly by chance. But it’s been a good relationship over the years,” he said. “We all like the outdoors, like to walk, and we have the same values – good family values all the way around. They’re just good people to know and spend time with.”
