Couple celebrates 65 years together

GRANVILLE - A little over 65 years ago, a woman in the chorus line of the 20th Century Flyer revue caught the eye of Luther “Bud” Brede.

Nancy Ferguson, a Newark native and the great-great granddaughter of Judge Jerome Buckingham, had been pressed by her family into performing in that year’s edition of the variety show which continues to this day in support of Camp O’Bannon.

“From there it went,” Nancy, now 87, recently remembered during a conversation that included one of the Bredes’ daughters, Margaretta Mathis.

“We were rehearsing over the old Natoma in 1951,” Nancy said. “Bud had come up through one of the fellas and I was in the chorus line.”

Luther, who will be 90 in January, said, “I saw this pretty lady, the prettiest one in the chorus line, and that’s all she wrote. We met in April and we got married in August.”

Today, Aug. 25, in fact marks their 65th wedding anniversary.

During those months between meeting and marrying, Luther said he “squired” Nancy around Licking County.

“Oddly enough, there were a lot of parties in Newark back then,” Nancy said. “Newark was much more social then.”

More than six decades later, the couple – who recently returned to live in Licking County in a historic home in the village – are still going strong.

The Bredes raised five daughters, three of whom are still living, and “all five went to college,” Nancy noted. They also have a number of step-grandchildren and step-great grandchildren.

“Family, that’s the big one,” Nancy said when asked the secret for their enduring union. “Family is important… Also perseverance, determination and companionship.”

Nancy taught third grade in Newark at the Hudson Avenue School before the couple relocated to the Dayton area, where she then began teaching at West Milton. These days, she serves as a docent at the Granville History Museum.

Although Judge Buckingham died before she was born, she remembers visiting family at the house before it was moved to its present location in Newark in 1954. “The aunties still lived there then,” she said.

Speaking of some of the things she most appreciates about Luther, she noted his talent as a woodworker: “He’s done some beautiful furniture.”

Luther said he learned the craft of woodworking in public school. “They taught me how to use a plane, a chisel, a hammer and a saw.” He continued to hone his craft, producing furniture and other handcrafted wooden items that now grace the Bredes’ home and daughter’ Margaretta’s place, as well.

Luther, who was born in Spokane Washington, graduated from college with a degree in physical metallurgy. He spent several years working as an engineer at North American Aviation/Rockwell and also working for Duriron Corporation in Dayton, among other positions.

He served in the Navy during World War II as an electronic technician who “also got to steer the boat once in a while.” Mostly his focus was on maintaining and working with radar, sonar and radio.

“We boarded the ship in San Francisco, then went down the China Coast,” he said. “Manchuria, Shanghai, Hong Kong and then Haiphong in French Indochina.”

In addition to woodworking, Luther also paints. Some of his works are currently on display at ART at 43023, 123 E. Broadway.