From a car-crazy southern Wisconsin town in the late ’60s, a love story.
Deb and Jer were a year apart at Janesville High School — Jer in the Class of ’66, Deb in the Class of ’67 as it became Janesville Craig High School.
Back then, Janesville was home to a GM assembly plant. Big car culture. Summer nights were meant for cruising The Circuit, a long, rectangular loop of one-way streets that went over the Rock River and back again.
Back then, not long out of high school, Deb drove a Mercury Cougar, a muscle car, with its radio tuned to WLS out of Chicago and Top 40 hits pouring out of it.
I gotta think Deb and Jer spent some nights courting on The Circuit before they were married. Didn’t everyone in Janesville? Their wedding in the late summer of 1969 is the first one I remember going to. I was 12. My youngest brother, then 5, was the ring bearer.
Deb and Jer were married for 54 years until he died earlier this month. Five kids, 10 grandkids, four great-grandkids. Jer was 75 and had been undergoing treatment for lymphoma for the past year. Deb is my cousin, so we were all together in Janesville on Sunday to celebrate Jer’s life.
During his memorial service, I was surprised — and then not at all surprised once I gave it some thought — to hear echoes of the Top 40 hits that poured out of those car radios tuned to WLS. Echoes of a wonderful time in their lives.
“My Love” by Petula Clark was the first of the songs chosen by Deb for Jer.
As the memorial service came to a close, another reminder of their love: “I Got You Babe,” by Sonny and Cher.
Perfect choices from a perfect time in their lives.
Jer will forever be in Deb’s heart. Right there next to muscle cars.
Eight years ago, Deb got herself another one, a 50th anniversary Mustang. Jer enjoyed teaching everyone in the family how to drive stick shift on it.
That’s it, parked in our driveway with me at the wheel, Evan in the front passenger seat and Jer good-naturedly sitting in the back seat. He didn’t need to teach me how to drive stick, but he came along anyway.
Deb and Jer. It was quite a ride, wasn’t it?