Rural life has been good to couple

Elza and Vivian Moses married in 1927, at ages 17 and 22 respectively, built a life together and after 80 years of marriage, still live in their rural Illinois home. Elza is 102 and Vivian is 97. Vivian says, "A neighbor told Grandma, 'That ain't gonna last.'" Leonid Gavrilov, a biodemographer at the University of Chicago's Center on Aging, used actuarial tables to estimate the chances of a couple living as long as the Moseses and also remaining married to be about 1 in 7 million, reports Colleen Mastony for the Chicago Tribune. (Photo by Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune of Elza and Vivian Moses, 102 and 97)

They lived and farmed in Nebraska after they married. But unrelenting heat and drought sent the couple to Tiskilwa, Ill., population 780, about 50 miles north of Peoria, where they still live. Elza raised corn, soybeans, hogs and dairy cows. Vivian tended to the garden, the house and their five daughters, writes Mastony. "For both of them, I think it was their first love," says daughter Judy Speers, 65. "They always totally relied on each other. And to this day they still do."


A North Carolina couple who marked their 86th anniversary in May hold the record for the longest marriage. "But the Moseses' longevity has made them celebrated figures in Tiskilwa and beyond. ... Local schoolchildren sent more than 100 cards for Elza's birthday," writes Mastony.

Both of them are in good health, though Elza has some hearing loss and Vivian has a sore shoulder. They agree that doing things together has kept their marriage strong. She writes birthday cards to every child, grandchild (nine), great-grandchild (28) and great-great-grandchild (14, with four on the way); he takes the cards to the mailbox. Vivian turns to Elza and asks, "Would you know what to do without me?" "I'd be completely lost," he says.(Read more)