Louise Ganus can recall the day she met her husband, Cliff, vividly.
It was the beginning of her sophomore year and she was at Harding a few days early to start work. She remembers Cliff driving up in a white Cadillac and wearing a white suite.
Cliff remembers seeing Louise in the first 10 seconds he was on campus. He sat across from her at dinner and was introduced to her that evening.
The next weekend they walked to church together and their relationship only progressed from there.
“I already had my wife and school hadn’t even started,” Cliff said. “Three months into our dating we were sitting on the back seat of a school bus and I leaned over to her and said, ‘Louise, I am going to marry you.'”
A 1943 graduate, Dr. Clifton L. Ganus Jr., served as Harding’s third president from 1965 to 1987, and now serves as chancellor of the university. He also held positions as history department chairman and vice president of Harding College, and he was honored when the board of trustees named the physical education complex, the Clifton L. Ganus Jr. Athletic Center, after him.
Louise Ganus graduated from Harding in 1942 and celebrated her 90th birthday last week. She served as the president of the Searcy chapter of Associated Women of Harding from 1976 to 1977.
The couple dated for four years and was married on May 27, the day after Cliff graduated from Harding.
“I believe in providence,” Louise said. “My whole life has been one of God’s direction.”
Some of both Louise and Cliff’s favorite memories revolved around their wedding anniversaries.
For their 50th wedding anniversary, Cliff took Louise on a trip around the world.
They left for two months in May, and visited Los Angeles as well as Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, India, Nepal and England.
At the end of their trip, they spent a month in the Ukraine working with the new church in Gorlovka.
After being married for 60 years, Cliff and Louise recreated some memories when they stayed at the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, Tenn., where they had spent their wedding night.
Cliff and Louise stayed in the William C. Handy suite for only $7.25, the price they had paid their first night back in 1943.
Cliff and Louise’s son, choral director Dr. Cliff Ganus III said his parents were great models for his own relationship.
“Mom and Dad treated each other the way they treated everybody,” Cliff Ganus III said. “With honor and respect. There was nothing selfish about their relationship. Nothing.”
Louise said she is thankful for the life she and Cliff have had together and said their marriage is one of the best decisions she ever made.
“Our life together has been very exciting; there’s never a dull moment,” Louise said. “It has been enjoyable because he is always positive. I thank God every day that Cliff chose me.”
Cliff said the years he has spent with Louise have not been long enough.
“My life with Louise, although almost 69 years, has seemed too brief and yet it seems like we have been married all of my life,” Cliff said. “It has been a wonderful trip, not without some problems and difficulties but one that I would gladly live again.”
