When Willie B. Smith was 17, he asked then-Barbara Leggins to marry him after he returned from the United States Navy. She said, “Yes!” Fifty years later, they still carry on like teenagers. (Photo by Wiley Henry)

In the neighborhood where South Wellington and Rosewood streets intersect, the Smiths and the Williamses have been next-door neighbors for more than 40 years.

Willie and Barbara Smith made a vow 50 years ago to love and cherish each other. Johnnie and Lillian Tyne Williams say they knew 46 years ago that each had found the right person.

As Valentines Day approaches, their stories serve as a reminder that love can and does survive misunderstandings, challenges and everyday life.

The Smiths connected in Memphis and soon fell in love. The Williamses, however, began their courtship in Sumner, Miss., and migrated to Memphis.

When the Smiths and Williamses were asked to go back to the day they first met and fell in love, they smiled as they thought about how it all began.

Looking for a life-long partner

When Willie B. Smith first met the former Barbara Leggins, sparks didn’t fly; they were no more than seven or eight years old. But they were friends nonetheless.

“Our families were very close. I was a friend of Bea’s brother,” said Willie Smith, who calls his wife, Bea. “We would go to the movies. We did everything together except play husband and wife.”

They also read literature together at Booker T. Washington High School before Willie, at the age of 17, enlisted in the United States Navy. He would get a GED in service and later three degrees.

Before leaving home to see the world, he wanted to make sure that the childhood friend he’d developed a relationship with would marry him upon his return.

“He asked me would I wait for him,” recalled Barbara Smith. “I said, ‘yes if we still felt the same for each other when he returned’.”

The love that Willie felt for his fiancé blossomed after his first furlough home. They got married Aug. 14, 1958, in his mother’s living room, before “all the people in the neighborhood.”

After they were married, Willie left for Seattle, Wash., set down roots and sent for his bride. “Our first child, a girl, was born in Seattle,” said Barbara, who also gave birth to four boys in later years.

There was something about her husband’s character and personality that caught Barbara’s attention. She was fond of his family as well.

The Smiths are still sweet on each other 50 years later. “I saw a beautiful woman, someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with,” said Willie Smith, 69. “That’s why I married her; I didn’t want to lose her.”  

The couple knew what they wanted in a life-long partner. “We were committed,” said Barbara, 70. “We knew our position and obligation. It wasn’t a frivolous thing. Although we were young, we married because we loved each other and family.”    

There were some “trials and tribulations” along the way, she said. “Marriage is something you have to work on. Young people see it as a fairy tale. It’s a lot of hard work.”

Her husband disagrees. “Everybody should know his or her responsibilities,” he said. “For me, I had to go to work. I was the bread winner.”

The Smiths are both retired. He retired from the Defense Depot in 1989 as a management analyst. She retired in 1998 from the Internal Revenue Service.

Willie Smith said his parents were role models for marriage. Barbara’s father died when she was three, “but I had great family support from grandparents on both sides.”

That’s why family is important in a marriage, she said.

Love is being a family

Johnnie Williams

Lillian Williams

The Williamses moved on South Wellington in 1964, a year after they married in Sumner, Miss., in Tallahatchie County. They dated for at least three years before making a lifelong commitment.

The wedding party was small – a preacher and best man, said Johnnie Williams. It was held at the Tallahatchie County Courthouse, where 14-year-old Emmett Till’s murder trial was held in 1955.

Johnnie Williams first met the former Lillian Tyne Young in Sumner. Their families were so close they lived together for a short time.

“Her mom and my mom grew up together, went to school together, sharecropped together, and came to live with us in Sumner in 1956,” said Williams. “My wife’s aunt also married my mom’s brother. We were like a family.”

Johnnie Williams and his future wife also “played together, went to school together, picked and chopped cotton together, and worshipped together at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in Sumner, Miss.”

The close family connection soon changed to a different kind of relationship between the two playmates. In 1961, he started seeing her in a different light.

When the Williamses first moved to Memphis, the family moved with them to an apartment on Jessimine and Lauderdale. “In that apartment was my wife, the kids, sisters and brothers, her mom and my mom, and two friends,” said Williams, 66.

Eventually, both families migrated to Memphis. “Family keeps things together,” said Williams, the oldest son of 12 children. “I was involved with her family and she was involved with mine.”

The Williamses have four grown children; one of them is married. If they ask for advice, Williams said he’d provide it. Other than that, “we won’t get into their business.”

However, when the subject of marriage comes up, Johnnie has an opinion. “When we got married, our parents were involved. Now young people don’t get their families involved,” he said.

Respect and responsibility are cornerstones for a successful marriage, said Williams. Education, religion and economics are the building blocks.

Williams is the owner of the American Drum and Pallet Company. His wife has been a nurse’s aide for more than 40 years. Lillian, now 64, is planning to retire this year.

Williams attributes his marital success to his father, who died in 1962, and his mother, who died in 1995 at age 80.

“I had to keep the family together,” he said.

“You just have to stay in the family circle. We have to keep it together.”