Finding Love After Age 80: Local couple ties the knot after meeting at church

In his 90s, Sam Conrad wasn't looking for romantic love. His first wife had passed away eight years earlier, and he says he kept busy. But one morning at church, a woman he had never seen before walked in. As the greeter, he welcomed her to the church.

The woman’s name was Gladys, and that morning marked the start of their love story.

“Neither of us were looking [for romantic love] as such,” Sam says. “Might have been searching for something in the back of my mind, but I thought, ‘Hell, I'm almost 90 years old. Who’s going to be interested in me?’”

Gladys moved to Cape Girardeau from Warrenton, Mo., in 2021 after retiring from working with people who have disabilities, to be closer to one of her three daughters. Her first husband had passed away 38 years before, and she says she had continued on with her life after being a homemaker and raising their children. All these decades later, she wasn’t thinking about finding a romantic relationship.

When she first moved to Cape Girardeau, she only knew her daughter and son-in-law. She also knew a friend she had previously worked with who took her to Maple Baptist Church, where she met Sam.

After a couple of months of being greeted by Sam each Sunday, Gladys didn’t come to service one morning. Sam inquired about her absence to the Sunday school teacher, who told him Gladys was out of town. That afternoon, Sam looked up Gladys’ phone number in the church directory and called her to tell her he’d missed her at church that morning. He was impressed to find out she had driven herself to O’Fallon, Mo., to dogsit her daughters’ dogs.

After church one Sunday a few weeks later, Sam asked Gladys to dinner, where they talked about their families, where they’d lived and what they’d done in life. A few weeks later, Gladys went out of town for a wedding, and then Sam, who served in World War II, went on an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. He called Gladys each day he was gone. When he got back, he went to her apartment and kissed her; after spending time apart, they both knew their relationship meant something to them.

They continued to go on dates and met each others’ families — Sam has one daughter and one son, and Gladys has three daughters, and they have seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren between them; after meeting Gladys, Sam’s daughter told Sam she was a keeper. They are grateful their children accepted them with happiness into their lives.

The Conrads’ courtship lasted a little more than a year before they applied for marriage licenses at 92 and 80 years old and got married by the preacher at their church on Dec. 20, 2022. They had both been married in private ceremonies before; this time, members from both of their families were able to attend.

Now, Gladys and Sam serve in various roles at the church together, including working at the church’s fish fries.

“I would say that the best thing to do [if you’re looking for a romantic relationship] is to find a good community church and get involved,” Gladys says. “And I think I’d give that advice to anybody, period.”

Gladys says their children “got a kick out of” her and Sam’s courtship; anytime he would call her, she would stop what she was doing and talk with him on the phone. That’s something that doesn’t change from being a teenager, she says.

Sam says he is grateful the community has accepted them as a young married couple, and, as a professional musician who opened for Carl Perkins and Elvis in 1956, that people continue to accept him for who he is after all of these years.

His advice about finding a romantic relationship later in life? Go for it.

“Don’t be afraid. Don’t be ashamed,” Sam says. “Be honest with each other and upfront. If you like something, I’d say mostly don’t hold off. Don’t hang back. If you feel something, or if you think there’s a potential, pursue it. It pays off. But other than that, like you tell young people, kind of be a little bit sure of yourself.”