Wendall, Joan Porter

Wendall and Joan Porter celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary Oct. 27 at Knott's Berry Farm in Anaheim, Calif., with their children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and friends. A day of activities was topped off by a family dinner at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner Restaurant.

In June 1950, Joan met Wendall while she was working at a Hollywood drug store lunch counter when Wendall came in to see one of Joan's friends, Robbie. Robbie told Wendall that she and Joan were going to a carnival that night in Glendale, Calif., and Wendall said he would meet them there. When he arrived at the carnival, he took hold of Joan's hand and would not let it go. They started dating, and soon after, Wendall told Joan that he loved her.

Wendall proposed to Joan while they were on a date at the Griffith Observatory in late June 1951. They set the date for Oct. 27 and were married at the Lutheran Church in Beverly Hills, Calif.

While living in the cities of Reseda, Calif., and Northridge, Calif., Wendall and Joan were raising four children, Don, David, Nancy and Brian. In 1970, they moved to Lancaster, Calif., where they lived for 17 years. They then decided to move to Rosamond and stayed there for three years. Wendall and Joan then decided to make the move to Pahrump, which they called home for 15 years. They just recently moved back to Quartz Hill, Calif., to be with their family, who lives in southern California.

Joan is a homemaker and Wendall is retired from Lockheed, where he worked for 50 years.