Area couple celebrates 75th anniversary
By Kevin O’Brien
When asked for her advice on how to stay in a successful marriage for 75 years, Velma Schultz’s response is short and to the point.
“Stick together. If you get mad, make up,” she said.
“Hold things together, especially when the kids get rowdy,” says her husband, Stanley, sharing a laugh with two of his adult daughters who were present for an interview last month.
This past Saturday, the ever-expanding family of Stanley and Velma Schultz gathered at the Frankfort Town Hall to celebrate their 75 years of marriage. About 95 people, mostly family members, attended the event to mark the milestone.
Relatives came from various parts of Wisconsin, including Watertown, Eau Claire, Denmark, and Wausau, though most of their family still lives in Central Wisconsin.
The oldest in attendance was Stanley at 96 and the youngest was great-grandson, Miles Stanley Martyn, 9 months. The only two living members of the original wedding party, aside from Stanley and Velma, also attended: Liz Kurth (Velma’s cousin) of Wausau and Doris Zunker (Velma's sister) of Watertown.
Since their marriage began in 1950, it has produced eight children, 24 grandchildren and 41 great-grandchildren. Their children, in order of birth, are Karen Thell, Merrill; Susan Howe (deceased), Bonnie Beyreis, Spencer; Jeff Schultz, Unity; Russell Schultz, Marshfield; Sandy Rindfleisch, Spencer; Dennis Schultz, Abbotsford, and Sara Martyn, Edgar. Their first grandchild, Corey Beyreis, was born in 1976, and their first great-grandchild, Ariana Canavan (Barenklau), was born in 1996.
“Little families turn big in a hurry,” Stanley said when thinking back on the history of his marriage.
Stanley and Velma both grew up in the Wausau area and were living on nearby
See ANNIVERSARY/ page 8 Anniversary
Continued from page 1
farms when they met at a box social, a social event in which young men buy boxes decorated by young ladies after they’ve filled the boxes with a lunch for two. Stanley originally bought a box from Velma’s sister, but she told him, “you need to meet my sister,” according to Karen.
The couple dated for a couple of years before getting married at St. Paul’s Church in Wausau when Stanley was 21 and Velma was 18.
“We were legal,” Stanley says, laughing. Their wedding day was wet and very windy. Flowers flew off down the street. Stanley recalls being smacked by the door of a beer truck when it swung open. Velma remembers being hit with a gust of wind as soon as they stepped out of the church.
“We thought our clothes we’re going to blow off,” she says, laughing.
After having dinner at their parents’ place, they went to Schmidt’s Ballroom for a dance. Their wedding party included two of Velma’s sisters, her brother and two cousins.
The young couple moved into a two-story brick house in the town of Stettin, built in 1910 by Stanley’s grandfather, Fred. Karen was born in 1951, followed by Susan a couple years later and then Bonnie. They eventually sold the home near Wausau and moved to a farm in the Spencer area in the early 1970s. Since that time, they’ve lived in and around Spencer, Unity, Colby and Owen. Most recently, they moved in with their youngest daughter, Sara Martyn, near Edgar, in December of 2023.
Although he spent the early part of his life as a dairy farmer, Stanley eventually sold his cows and got into logging. Velma was a stay-at-home mom until they moved to the Spencer area, and then she started working at various restaurants, including Mr. B’s in Abbotsford for over 20 years.
Karen Thell fondly recalls her childhood surrounded by extended family members.
“I just remember there was always a lot of people around,” she said. “We had a lot of family in the area, so we were always going to birthday parties and weddings. It seemed like, in the summer, there was a wedding almost every weekend.”
At the same time, because the family moved around a fair amount, she realizes how much the siblings’ experiences varied.
“I went to a one-room schoolhouse,” she said. “Sara’s upbringing was totally different than mine. She’s 15 years younger than I am.”
That one-room schoolhouse, the Spooner School, was built in 1895, also by Fred Schultz, who was born in Germany before coming to America with his family as a young child. Stanley and his siblings attended the school before Karen and her sisters did.
In 1963, the school was moved from the corner of CTH O and U in the town of Stettin to Marathon Park in Wausau, where it is known as the Little Red School House.
Stanley and Velma have had several other big anniversary parties in their lives, going back to their 25th in 1975. Their 70th anniversary party had to be cancelled due to COVID, but the family has been planning this latest one for about a year, Karen said.
“My dad kept saying ‘It’s too soon, it’s too soon, we don’t know if we’ll be here,’” she said back in April. “About two weeks ago, he started to get excited about it.”
HALL OF FAMERS - Stanley and Velma Schultz, who celebrated their 75th anniversary this week, received a certificate of recognition after being inducted into the Wisconsin Marriage Hall of Fame in 2024. The photo at right is from their May 6, 1950 wedding.Their wedding date is shared by granddaughter, Molly (Schultz) and Tarek Scott, and niece Pam (Seidler) and Darin Aschbrenner, who all attended Saturday's anniversary party in the town of Frankfort. STAFF PHOTO/KEVIN O’BRIEN
WITH THEIR CHILDREN- Stanley and Velma Schultz, front center, pose for a picture with their seven children. Standing in back, from left to right, are Russ Schultz, Sara Martyn, Sandy Rindfleisch, Bonnie Beyreis and Dennis Schultz. Seated, from left to right, are Jeffry Schultz, Stanley and Velma, and Karen Thell. One of their daughters, Susan Howe, passed away.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
FIVE GENERATIONS - At their 75th wedding anniversary on Saturday, Stanley and Velma Schultz, front, took the opportunity to pose for a five-generation photo. In back, from left to right, are granddaughter Kristi Canavan, daughter Bonnie Beyreis, and great-granddaughter Ariana Barenklau holding great-great granddaughter Ophelia Barenklau.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
