By Lynn Kutter

ENTERPRISE-LEADER

LINCOLN -- Love the second time around can take place at the local senior center.

The former Bonita Hill and Robert Curtsinger, both of Lincoln, met at Lincoln Senior Center, were crowned Valentine King and Queen in 2017 and almost on a whim decided to go ahead and get married.

"Why run around single when you could marry a good woman," said Robert Curtsinger, 85.

Robert began going to Lincoln Senior Center after his wife passed away. He and his wife married in 1956 and she passed away in 2012. They had been married 56 years.

Bonita and her husband had been married almost 32 years when he passed away in March 2015.

Robert and Bonita had been seeing each other about two years when they decided to go ahead and take the next step.

"We'd been buddies for quite a while, spent a lot of time together and we just decided," Robert said.

They became engaged April 7 and married two days later, April 9,at a church in Stilwell, Okla.

Bonita said she had a dentist appointment in Stilwell on April 9 and on the drive over, they decided to go ahead and get married. Her dentist offered to call the pastor at Power House Church in Stilwell to see if he could marry them. He said he could, so after the dentist appointment Bonita and Robert headed over to the church.

She jokes she had clean teeth "and a cavity" for the ceremony, which was officiated by the pastor and attended by the pastor's wife and church janitor. The janitor took pictures for them.

Bonita's sister, Paulette Carlton of Lincoln, learned about the wedding when she received a text with a photo of the two holding their marriage license.

"They got married," said Carlton, remembering her response to the photo. "It was a shock to me."

Neither was looking for love a second time around.

Robert said he began going to the senior center just to hang around.

Bonita had taken care of her husband and said she did not want to have to take care of anyone else.

However, for Robert, she said she would do it all over again.

They had a brief honeymoon in Branson.

Robert said he told his son but he didn't have much to say about it.

Bonita's stepchildren were happy for her, she said.

General News on 05/16/2018