You would think that their names may have been a tip-off--that when Alvin Springer met Alvina Schlecht more than seven decades ago, they might have thought destiny was at work.

In fact, Alvina did not think twice about it.

“I went with quite a few Alvins,” she said. “It was a common name.”

The pair also did not spend too much time worrying about the date of their wedding, which fell on April Fools Day in 1943. Alvin admitted that he didn’t consider the coincidence until after the ceremony.

Alvin, who has been called “Bud” since childhood, was born in Murdo, South Dakota on Nov. 29, 1922 and moved to the town of Timber Lake at age 7.

He still remembers the first time he laid eyes on Alvina. He was driving 40 miles away from his hometown, to Mobridge.

“There were four of us boys in the car,” Bud said. “There she came along, riding on a bicycle with her friends.”

He asked where he might be able to find her in Mobridge. She replied that he could stop by the Brown Palace Café.

“I worked there,” Alvina said. “I waited tables.”

It wasn’t long before the two started dating. Bud would stop by the restaurant to chat with Alvina and walk her home from work.

They were both avid dancers and found, in each other, willing partners at the jitterbug and waltz. They even danced at a Lawrence Welk show in Mobridge.

Was it love at first sight?

“Oh, I guess so,” Bud said. “We danced well together.”

“The first time we ever danced, he said he was going to marry me,” Alvina recalled. “He had it all figured out in his mind.”

They dated for about six months before they settled on the date for their wedding. Now, they’re preparing to celebrate 75 years together.

The Springers are inviting friends and family to join them to fete their anniversary on Saturday, March 31 at Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church in SeaTac, the town the couple has called home since the 1950s

Bud’s mother died when he was born. He spent most of his childhood living with his Aunt Alice and Uncle Wesley Smith. They took in the infant and his three siblings, raising them alongside their own two children.

When the Smiths moved to Seattle, Bud followed to be close to his family. He had traveled to the area before, driving a truck for the State of Washington.

They first settled in Georgetown and then moved to SeaTac in 1954. “When we moved out here, it was just a little one-room house,” Bud said.

Eventually, the Springers tore down the building and constructed a larger home for their growing family. They had three children and now count nine grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

When they built the house, they could see Mount Rainier, and there was a forest in their backyard. Now, the neighborhood and city has grown up around them.

Bud was a truck driver for most of his life, until he retired at age 60. Alvina worked occasionally waiting tables, then at the Highline school district. She had a job at the Sunny Jim factory putting labels on the jars of peanut butter.

At one point, Alvina worked in downtown Seattle and clearly remembers waving a white napkin at the bus stop. “It would be so foggy, that the bus driver wouldn’t see us otherwise,” she said.

After Bud retired, the couple traveled, with a camper in tow. They have visited all the states, except Hawaii and a number of national parks in the country. 

“We drove around the U.S., 13,900 miles in one trip,” Bud said.

“When we were in Alaska, that was really something,” Alvina added. “We were on top of the world.”

They had a winter home in Arizona for a number of years, where they would seek refuge from Seattle’s gray, rainy months.

The Springers enjoyed playing cards and dancing, when they were not camping, hiking and riding their bicycles.

“Friday night was dance night,” Alvina said. “Even if you didn’t have any food to put on your table, you went dancing. That was the priority.”

They’ve learned that the couple that dances together, stays together. They also share the same advice when asked for the secret for a long, happy marriage: “Keep your mouth shut.”

In addition, Bud tells other men to consider, “You’re not always right.”