When Norma and Richard married at the Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Kokomo on December 9, 1945, church members wanted to make sure that the building's "balky" organ worked okay. Unbeknownst to each other, several men oiled the compressor, with the result that partway through the wedding ceremony the organ "drowned" in oil and ceased making music. The resourceful organist quickly moved to the piano and carried on with aplomb. Considerable snow had fallen that day, making traveling treacherous and slow. The Hiteshew's bus was late leaving Kokomo for Cincinnati via Muncie, so they missed their connections in Muncie. The depot clerk recommended a nearby hotel, saying that it was probably the only one within walking distance. Richard & Norma took his advice, and ended up spending their wedding night in a rundown fleabag establishment. The next morning, as the bus left for Cincinnati, they saw right around the corner from the bus station in the opposite direction the beautiful Hotel Delaware. This experience has been a source of amusement all their married life. ~~ Dick was on leave from the Navy when they got married. He spent 38 years in the service, so the couple lived many places. A few years after he retired, he and Norma returned to Kokomo to look after their parents.
Richard F. Hiteshew, 1922 -
Norma V. (Hartmann) Hiteshew, 1924 -
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