Couple Enjoys Life In Noel
Larry and Doris Lambeth enjoy their life in Noel, where they plan to stay for the rest of their lives. The couple met by chance. Larry grew up on a farm in Jasper County near Carthage. Doris grew up in Eldon, Mo., in Miller County. Larry was in the Navy from 1955 to 1959 before he met Doris.
“It was a good experience. Every young man ought to do it,” he said.
The couple met in Jefferson City. Larry was on a business trip. He came to McDonald County for the mobile home business and used to go on sales trips for a week at a time. The week that he was in Jefferson City, Doris was also there with five other girls for a bowling tournament. She was working as an office secretary at the time. They met and started dating.
“I would drive from here to Eldon, which is 210 miles,” Larry said. “We dated more than a year long distance.” They were married in December 1969.
Their daughter, Holly, was born in 1974. In 1975 they moved to Kentucky for eight months so Larry could run a coal stripping operation.
“It was a good experience,” he said.
In 1979 or 1980, they got into the canoe business and after a few
years bought a campground. Doris looked after the business during the week with the help of hired hands, and Larry joined in on the weekends. The business was called Elk River Floats and Campground. They were in business for 19 years.
“It was fun,” Doris said. “We met a lot of nice people we still have contact with.”
Larry said they were a pioneer in the business.
“We started with a dozen canoes and worked up to a little over 125, which is considered small today. We used to could haul them in the back of the truck. Now you have to have buses.”
After they got out of the canoe business, Doris went to work for Noel Quality Cleaners for six years, and Larry went to work for Gallery Graphics. Now they are both retired.
Doris has volunteered as a poll worker for 46 years and served on the housing board. The couple has traveled extensively to Europe, Spain, Italy, North Africa, Hawaii, Mexico and the Bahamas.
In spite of their travels abroad, the couple is content to return home to Noel.
“It’s a town you come to and you get to be really good friends. People are so nice. It’s people you can count on, and this is where we’ll probably end up being the rest of our lives,” Doris said.
“We’ve made a lot of friends in the 50 years we’ve been here,” Larry said.
“We’ve had a great life,” Doris said. “We have been fortunate to like the same things and like people. We’ve never met a stranger and we’ve enjoyed life.”