Mr. and Mrs. Virgil and Mary Jane Koechner, of Tipton, will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary April 7.
Mary Jane Hartman and Virgil Koechner were married April 7, 1956, at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Tipton by Fr. James Steidel.
Mr. Koechner served five years in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. He retired from Southwestern Bell Telephone Company after 44 years. He also served as the union president of Communication Workers of America for 33 years.
Mrs. Koechner was a homemaker raising their six children and working together with her husband they managed to run their agriculture farms.
They have six children, Kirk (Rose) Koechner, of Eldon, the late Kyle (Kathy) Koechner, of Tipton, Kim (David) Spencer, of Marion, Arkansas, Kent (Joanne) Koechner, of Tipton, Karen (Jay) Hohne, of Sedalia, and Karla (Danny) Wood, of Tipton; 15 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
