Couple’s 84-year marriage honored
Time doesn’t stand still, Cleovis Whiteside told a group of family and friends celebrating his 84-year marriage to the former Arwilda Kelley.
Yet, it’s just that relationship which has stood the test of time, all the way from their childhood days in Clarendon.
“As long as you do what you’re supposed to do, it’s no telling how long time will last,” Cleovis, 102, said.
The Whitesides, who call White Hall home, are Arkansas’ longest-married couple and are believed to be the longest active in the United States. Family Council, a pro-family organization based in Little Rock, celebrated them for the third time in five years with a dinner at International House of Praise church on Faucett Road in Pine Bluff.
The story of their time-tested love made its way to Congress. On Thursday, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., whose 4th District includes Jefferson County, honored the Whitesides on the House floor with a resolution.
“On what I am sure was a hot and humid Monday, July 24, 1939, 17-year-old Cleovis and 13-yearold Arwilda made a lifetime commitment to God and each other that has endured the test of time,” Westerman said. “The next year, Mrs. Whiteside delivered the first of their 12 children.”
Westerman recalled an interview last year in which Cleovis Whiteside said, “She still loves me, and we still get along just as good.”
Arwilda Whiteside said, according to the Congressional Record, that she ran to Cleovis since she was 9 and has first run to God and then him ever since. Within the couple’s statements, Westerman pointed out, is the foundation of what he called a strong, Christ-centered marriage.
“We’re very thankful because we know only God did it,” Arwilda Whiteside, 98, said. “We didn’t do it. That’s why we say the 115th Psalm, first verse. It’s not for us, but it’s for God. It’s about him, not us, because we’re just his little armed servants. Never in this world would we have believed that God would take two little ol’ young kids and just let them grow and receive all of his blessings. If you see where we came from and what God has given us – 12 children, six girls and six boys – only God. That’s all I can say.”
Nine of the 12 children are still alive.
Family Council first honored the Whitesides in 2019 when
they became the longest active married pair in Arkansas.
The longest verified marriage in world history, according to Guinness World Records, was Herbert and Zelmyra Fisher of North Carolina at 86 years, 290 days, when Herbert died Feb. 27, 2011.
Three other couples have been verified to be married at least 85 years, including Ralph and Dorothy Kohler of California, who were married in Nebraska on Sept. 16, 1935. Dorothy Kohler died Dec. 2, 2021.
According to Family Council, the second-longest active marriage in Arkansas is Thell and Margie Ellison of Natural Dam (Crawford County), who wed June 24, 1941 (82 years, 3 months).
“Marriage is important,” said Jerry Cox, founder and president of Family Council. “If you just step back and look at what makes for success for children, it’s a two-parent, stable, married home. Not everybody gets to live in a home like that, but I wish they could. I think this couple is an example of people who said marriage is one man to one woman for a lifetime, and we’re going to raise the stable family. They’ve got 12 children and they’ve done well. How do you argue with that?”
The Whitesides have lived in the Pine Bluff area since 1950. Their family tree has grown to 42 grandchildren, 101 great-grandchildren and 16 great-great grandchildren. They added two great-great grands since Family Council last honored them in April 2022, according to their youngest child, Marian Whiteside-Rivers, who emceed Sunday’s program.
Since their last celebration, the Whitesides have stayed happy and healthy simply “by doing what we’re supposed to do,” Cleovis said. “Get married and stay married. It’s been that way ever since.”
Charisse Dean, Family Council’s project coordinator, presented the Whitesides with 18 golden roses to represent the time of beauty of life, and fresh peaches and pears to symbolize the fruits of their marriage. Both Cleovis and Arwilda are master gardeners.
“It’s a wonderful thing to see commitment,” Dean said. “It speaks to the blessing that comes with marriage, a long life, the fruitfulness of it – 12 children – and just the result of honoring God in everything you do.”
For the Whitesides, their garden has been grown with the simple ingredient of love.
“Down through the years, God has been so good,” Arwilda Whiteside said. “It’s hard to hate, but it’s easy to love. Turn your heart to love.”