Renewal of vows marks 50th wedding anniversary

Five decades is a long time to be married. Dean and Dody Davis, ages 72 and 70, respectively, marked their 50th anniversary by renewing their vows. The occasion, held June 9 at Lone Mountain Park, was a mixture of a family reunion and weddings.

After Dody and Dean exchanged their vows, Dody's nephew, Kevin Kwick, a businessman who lives near Phoenix, married his fiance. To make it a truly family event, the ceremonies for both couples were performed by another family member, Bill Haley, the husband of Dody's niece. He is a Christian pastor with a church in California. Both couples insisted he preside over their ceremonies.

The Davis' next-to-oldest son walked Dody down the aisle and a cousin of Dean's stood as his best man.

The wedding had to be held outside because so many family members came into town -- from Wisconsin, Arizona and California --and plenty of room was needed. About 70 people attended the mid-day ceremony, the heat was kept at bay with a steady breeze. Then they held the family reunion celebration.

The Davises, who live near Rainbow and Jones boulevards, were especially grateful for the chance to renew the vows they'd taken 50 years earlier. Dean suffered a heart attack last summer. It happened just as Dody's plane was landing in California (she takes an annual trip to Hawaii with a girlfriend and he had driven to California to visit family, then drive her back to Las Vegas.)

She rushed to the hospital to find him in a coma. He remained that way for 20 days, had another heart attack almost immediately and went into another 20-day coma. For a short time, he was considered clinically dead.

"Twice the doctor wanted to pull the plug on him because he said he'd be a vegetable if he (survived)," she said. "But we couldn't do that, even though it's in our wills."

She spent as much time as she could at the hospital, talking to him and praying. She also scolded him.

"Don't you dare die," she told him. "You promised to marry me again."

One day, a family friend came to the hospital and was praying with her when Dean, eyes closed and still in his coma, reached up and clutched the cross that the man wore. Dean would not let go and the clasp had to be opened to release the man. For days he clutched the man's cross and Dody said that's when she knew the angels were around. Dean came out of his coma within days.

That was in September. Since then he's come home, been in rehabilitation and the couple made definite plans for their 50th anniversary.

Dean's recovery sparked a party attitude and the family reunion idea was planned to coincide with the couple's renewal of their vows. When they learned Dody's nephew wanted to come to Las Vegas to be married, the plans swelled even further.

The couple was first married in 1951, back when they both lived in Wisconsin. Dody's sister introduced them and their very first date was going out to dinner where they had "the most delicious pea soup." The next night they took in a movie.

The pair dated for the next six weeks and then got married. That ceremony was small, held in a Lutheran church and only involved two witnesses. Dody was 19. Dean was 21 and had just gotten out of the Air Force.

They later moved to California where Dean worked as an engineer and Dody owned a jewelry store. They had four sons and now have 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Besides making jewelry, Dody is a portrait artist and one of her paintings, depicting presidents Reagan, Nixon, Carter and Ford, hangs in the White House. The couple moved to Las Vegas about four years ago.

Though both have health concerns that are constant, they were grateful to renew their vows amid so many well-wishers.

"The first time we got married there was nobody there, now to have all our family around, it's just is wonderful," Dody said.