A Love Story

Dotty and Ken Northrip celebrate 62 years of marriage

By Laura Fitzgerald
Posted 2/13/19

When Dorothy “Dotty” missed her bus, Ken Northrip, the boy that lived just around the corner, offered to take her in to work. When she arrived home, he was waiting for her—on his …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in
A Love Story

Dotty and Ken Northrip celebrate 62 years of marriage

Posted

When Dorothy “Dotty” missed her bus, Ken Northrip, the boy that lived just around the corner, offered to take her in to work. When she arrived home, he was waiting for her—on his tractor.

“He’s on the big old tractor, so everyone on the bus is looking out the window and saying, ‘What the heck is this guy doing?’” Dotty, said. “So, he rode that tractor up the road and I walked. And girls didn’t wear pants then, everybody had dresses on, so it wasn’t like I was gonna get on that thing.”

From then on, he would drive her into work or wait for her on his tractor at the bus stop, often shirtless.

“Then he was muscular,” Dotty said.

Ken’s doggedness paid off; the couple has now been married for 62 years. Dotty has dark blue eyes and wears pink lipstick. Ken wears glasses around his neck and a set of keys that hang over his stomach.

When they met, Dotty was 22 and Ken was 20 years old. In those days, women didn’t date anyone younger than them, so Ken said he was 23 when they met. Ken’s mother informed Dotty of his correct age after they were engaged.

“She asked me how old I was, and I said, ‘How old are you?’” Ken said. “And I told her that I was a year older than her because I didn’t think she’d go out with me.”

The couple got their marriage license and decided to get married at the court house on Feb. 16, 1957.

“We got the marriage license and she said, ‘Let’s get married Saturday night’,” Ken said.

“Was that my suggestion?” Dotty asked.

“That was your suggestion.”

“I don’t remember that,” Dotty said, laughing.

Ken found his best man when he walked into the bar next door and saw one of his coworkers having a drink. Ken’s mother was surprised by the news when the couple told her of their wedding.

“We went home and told my mother the following day we had gotten married and of course she didn’t believe it,” Ken said.


The young couple moved to a house on Valley Avenue in Walden, where they had eight children: Brenda, Annette, Karen, Gail, Brian, JoMarie, Jeffery and Jeanie. All the houses on the street had families, and the children would play in the street with the other kids until it was dark.

“It was like one big family,” Dotty said.

The most important house rule: respect others. Treat others as you wanted to be treated. Listen to your elders. Do your chores before you go out and play. Say please and thank you. And family conferences are always mandatory.


Dotty took care of the kids and babysat children from other Walden families. She also sold Avon, which was both another source of income for the family and a fun activity Dotty could make her own. Ken was always working a couple part-time jobs—with experiences as varied as driving school buses, selling insurance, managing grocery stores, and everything in between—to keep the family afloat. He also volunteered as a firefighter.

“Every time that horn blew, out the door he went, no matter what we were doing or where we were going, that was first,” Dotty said. “And the people downstairs would say, ‘Look out Ken’s coming down!’”

The Northrip’s children have now given the couple 11 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. The family members have gone on to such varied careers as the Air National Guard, the Village of Walden village manager, a school bus driver, a manager for Con Edison and more.

With such a large brood, holidays take extra preparation, but there is always an occasion to celebrate or a place to be for the Northrips.

“We’re very, very busy,” Dotty said.

While the couple couldn’t spend much time together through their years in the Valley Avenue house, they kept little rituals to remind each other of their love. They went out dancing on the weekends. Ken brought Dotty home a single rose every day. Dotty always cooked Ken a full breakfast.

“He never went to work without his breakfast,” Dotty said, “and he was the person that always had bacon and eggs and juice and coffee, the whole thing.”

The golden rule of their long marriage? Never go to bed angry. Talk out your differences.

“There’s nothing we couldn’t talk out,” Ken said.

It was a happy 54 years in the Valley Avenue house, full of life, love and family.

“It’s been a full, full life,” Ken said.


Now, the couple lives in a small apartment in a senior home in Montgomery. They depend on each other more as their bodies creak under the weight of old age.

But the years haven’t dampened their love for each other. They still hold hands. Ken loves to shower Dotty with compliments.

“It’s just a matter of loving you so much,” Ken said.

“Ok, he’s always telling people that, ‘Oh she’s so beautiful’,” Dotty said, chuckling.

“It’s true, she’s the most beautiful woman in the world,” Ken said, a smile crinkling his eyes.