It was practically love at first sight. Bob and Lori Kellner first met in November 1958 when he drove a group of his friends to a dance at the Playmor Ballroom in Rochester. One of them had invited Lori to join them, and she immediately noticed the handsome driver. “I remember wishing I could be the one riding in the front seat,” Lori laughed. She didn’t get to do that, but she had caught Bob’s eye as well so after the dance, he made sure to drop her off last and walk her to the door so he could ask her out on a date. The two clicked and they both knew that they had met “the one.” “He was very good looking back then,” Lori said to which Bob responded, “I still am.” In December, 1958, just two short weeks after they first met, Lori was visiting Bob at his home when he proposed. “He just gave me the engagement ring,” Lori said. “He still isn’t one for showing emotions.”
Over the next 11 months, the couple planned their wedding which took place on November 9, 1959. They got married at First Methodist Church (now Christ United Methodist Church) in Rochester with Lori’s sister and her husband, Carol and Dave Larson acting as attendants for the small ceremony. Lori remembered seeing a white formal dress at a shop in Rochester that she had tried on before she started dating Bob. “I remembered saying to myself, ‘I’m going to wear this for a wedding dress if I ever get married,’” she said. Thankfully, the dress was still available when she got engaged.
After the ceremony, a small reception was held at Lori’s parents’ home before the couple took a short honeymoon to Sparta, Wis. Their wedding and subsequent marriage created some discord among their friends and family as Bob was Catholic and Lori was Methodist. “Some even told us it wouldn’t work,” Lori explained. She later ended up joining the Catholic church and on April 28, 1961, she and Bob got married again at St. Pius X Catholic church in Rochester.
After their wedding, the Kellners lived on a farm in Rock Dell and later moved to Rochester where they raised their five children. After that, they lived in Stewartville for a time and before moving to their current home in Lanesboro.
On November 9, 2018, Bob and Lori celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. At the time, they were traveling to Arizona for the winter, and so their anniversary was spent at a Roadway Inn in Deming, N. Mex.
“You have to work together through good times and hard times,” Lori said when asked how she and Bob have stayed married for so long. “There were times we didn’t know where our next meal would come from, but we always stuck together and always knew we would make it.” During the tough times they’ve faced in their marriage, they have focused on being good to each other and trying to do better.
The love that Lori and Bob have is still evident 60 years after their wedding. “He’s a nice guy. He gives me a kiss once a month,” Lori said, laughing. “She always makes sure I get fed,” Bob added. “One of our daughters says, ‘Dad isn’t much for showing emotion, but if you look closely you can see how much he loves her and when she’s in pain you can see his pain.’”
Bob and Lori’s recommendations to young couples just starting out are to just keep working together and not to give up. “Try to live within your means,” Lori added. “Only buy what you can afford.
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