COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) – A western Iowa couple married for 79 years is being honored for having the longest marriage in the state.  The Daily Nonpareil reports Alvin and Eula Blankenship‘s marriage will be celebrated at a reception today (Sunday).  One-hundred-year-old Eula Blankenship says she and her 99-year-old husband have always loved to dance and travel. And Eula Blankenship says it helps that Alvin is a pretty good guy.

The retired farming couple was surprised when the Worldwide Marriage Encounter group told them they had the longest marriage in Iowa. The couple married in Magnolia on June 12, 1934 – not far from where they grew up in Woodbine and Logan. They honeymooned in Omaha.

Since then, they have visited all 48 lower United States by car or bus.