The longest running couple in the Cowboy State reached another milestone over the weekend. On February 2nd, Mr. and Mrs. Joe and Eldine Maixner celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary.

When the Maixners tied the knot in 1946, a gallon of gas cost 15 cents, the average home price was just over $5,000, and the microwave oven had just been invented.

Joe and Eldine have known each other their entire lives. They were neighbors in the town of Bee, Neb. and started dating in the 10th grade. After they graduated from high school in 1942, Joe enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in World War II.

When Joe got home from the war in 1945, Eldine joined him in New York City and they've been together ever since. They eventually settled in Cheyenne, where they raised two children. Several years ago, they moved to Casper to be closer to their five great-grandchildren.

“They have just been an example to everybody,” their daughter Jeanne told the Casper Star-Tribune in 2017. “Love, faith and family is what matters.”

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