Former Residents Celebrating 70th Wedding Anniversary

Former Lexington residents Porter and Mary Ellen Smith, who live in Henrico County, are getting ready to celebrate their 70th wedding anniversary on Christmas Day.

Porter Smith married the former Mary Ellen Meade while on a three-day pass from the U.S. Air Force in 1954. Dr. Lyons, the minister at Lexington Baptist Church, conducted the ceremony in the parlor of her grandparents’ home on 422 Morningside Heights. She had been raised by her grandparents, J.B. and Mary Meade.

Mr. Smith remembers that his future wife’s grandmother had cleared the parlor of the Christmas decorations so that they could be married there.

In attendance were just a few relatives, including his parents, Porter and Maggie Smith, and his brother, Carl, who was also in the Air Force, having previously served in World War II under Gen. George Patton. Both the bridegroom and his brother wore their uniforms that day.

Porter Smith would go on to a career as an over-the-road trucker, and retired as a Walmart truck driver, having delivered loads from Virginia to Maine.

The Smiths had two children, a son and a daughter, and they have one grandchild and two great-grandchildren.

They said they plan a quiet anniversary on Christmas Day.