We began this unique Hall of Fame to honor both the institution of marriage and individual marriages that have gone the distance because “strong marriages that last a lifetime are the bedrock for a strong Wisconsin.”
Applying to the Hall of Fame is open to any married couple in Wisconsin who has been married for sixty or more years. No awards will be given posthumously. Applications for 2023 are closed.
2023 Marriage Hall of Fame Inductees
The Longest Married Couple
Arthur & Margaret Behling
- Married Since 1946
Art and Marge were born in August and September 1923
Art and Marge were born in August and September 1923. Art was born in his fathers home which his father bought before he went to serve in the United States Army during World War I in 1917. Art joined the United States Navy during World War II and saw action in the Pacific. Both were born in homes on their father’s farm. They both graduated from high school in 1941. They had six children (3 boys and 3 girls). They both live together in Kimberly, Wisconsin where they were both born.
Marriage Advice: “There needs to be a lot of compromise.”
Arthur & Margret Behling now.
The Inductees
2022 Marriage Hall of Fame Inductees
Hiram & Gretta Brown
- Married Since 1943
My parents were married on March 25, 1943 — 79 years ago this coming March 25th. They met at a USO in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas where my mother lived and my father was stationed. Almost immediately after they were married, my dad was shipped off to Paris, where he spent the next year or more as a company clerk.
I was born while he was overseas. He did not see me until I was a year old. While there, he had a little dress made for me out of a parachute and sent it home. Upon his return from the war, my parents moved to Rice Lake, Wisconsin, which is his birthplace.
They are now 98 and 97 years old and are still living in their own home. They had a son, Steven, who was killed in a car accident in 1980 when he was 31. They have five grandchildren, six great grandchildren and one great great grandchild due this coming May.
My father was/is a musician and continues to play the piano for us whenever he can. He wrote a song entitled “Mr. Moon” when he was very young and played and sang it to my mom not all that long ago. My father said that the BIG news when he was in the service was RADAR — and that it was his office that first received this top secret “news” and their company was a part of having it installed on the top of the Eiffel Tower.
Piece of Marriage Advice: Stick it out!
