Tolberts celebrate 70th wedding anniversary

By Rose Hooper

First time he saw 17-year-old Ruby Lee Blanton, Edward Estes Tolbert, a whole year older, "knew she was the one for me."

They were married July 4, 1932 at a preacher's house in Sylva and this July 4 they celebrated 70 years of marriage.

Estes came all the way from a little place called Globe, near Blowing Rock, to meet his "gem."

"Ruby had a sister, Mattie Oxner, who lived near Camp Creek and I came to visit her," Estes described how he met his bride.

"I knew Ruby about two years before I finally asked her to marry me," he said. "We didn't go out on any dates; we had no way of traveling so I just visited her at the house and we'd go for walks."

Now 70 years later both Ruby and Estes said they would do it all over again "and not change a thing about it."

"The Lord's been good to us," the couple tells of the force that has held them together all these years.

"You've got to hang in there and make it work; you can't seesaw," Ruby said.

"Don't argue," advises Estes who "never did like to argue; I'd just walk off."

Oh, there were rough times, the couple agrees, citing the Depression and the death of their son, David.

"It was pretty rough back during the Depression. Most people were lucky if they could get a job. I got lucky. A man from Atlanta bought a farm on Camp Creek and I worked for him about five years. Then he bought another farm in Gibsonville so we moved there for a while, then moved back to Camp Creek in 1948," said Estes, who retired after working 28 years with the Department of Transportation's bridge division.

"Estes was a good one to work; I always liked that about him," said Ruby, who only worked outside the home once - at Santa's Land.

But while she stayed home and took care of their three sons, Ruby also made money babysitting. She even made enough money to pay cash for a brand new Chevrolet Nova in 1974.

"I thought I knew how to drive," she said. "So I pulled out on the highway and floorboarded it...went faster than I cared to go. I learned I had to be careful with my right foot." Now 89, Ruby doesn't drive anymore, but she still likes to go.

"Her favorite thing to do is ride," said neighbor Deborah Petito, who does the driving.

At 90, Estes still drives, but it is a riding lawn mower. And he still gardens.

"This spring I planted a garden, but it got so dry...but I do have a few tomatoes, beans and corn," he said.

He picked blackberries this season and he and Deborah made 17 jars of jelly and canned seven quarts of the sweet berry, known to "smooth out an ailing stomach."

Despite their advanced years, the Tolberts' health has been pretty good, up until his recent bout with pneumonia and her ever-so-light touch of Alzheimer's.

"The love between the two of them is incredible," said Petito. "Estes will come over to Ruby, put his hand on her shoulder and ask if there is anything he can get for her. And Ruby smiles at him, calls him ŒPaw" and can still charm him with her great sense of humor."

Rocking in the metal chairs on their front porch, the couple can look out at their well-tended homeplace just off Shoal Creek Road in Cherokee.

"I bought 31 acres, but have divided most of it up now with the boys," said Estes. "The boys" would be sons Ray, who lives in Panama City, Fla., and Glen, who lives next door.

Enjoying the breeze through the cove and listening to the wind chimes hanging on the porch, the couple finds contentment just being together. "We sit around and talk -about just one thing and another," said Estes.

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