Love Story: Jill and David Madill celebrate 38 years

Published 11:18 pm Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Jill Whitney was just out of nursing school in 1970. She was 20 years old and working in Spokane.

David Madill was stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base. He, like many other young guys, was in the habit of cruising the streets of the town in his car.

“They still allowed it,” Jill said.

One of Jill’s roommates was from Oregon. It turned out that David was, too. The girls would wave at him and say, “There’s Mr. Oregon again,” Jill said.

But things moved past the waving stage one evening when Jill and her friend, while cruising Riverside Avenue, were stopped at a red light. David was with his friend, hanging out on the hood of his car. The young men jumped into the girls’ vehicle and drove to a local hangout, Dick’s Drive-In.

The newly introduced pair got to know each other and soon David was taking Jill back to Portland to meet his parents.

Jill and David Madill of Everett will celebrate their 38th wedding anniversary on Friday.

The couple were married Oct. 10, 1970, at St. Anthony’s Church in Spokane, three months after they began dating. Jill was Catholic. David was Mormon. Jill’s cousin, a priest, married them.

Jill and David married on his parents’ wedding anniversary. Following family tradition seemed like second nature to David. Both his father and his uncle met their wives while they were in Spokane after World War II. David’s mother is also a nurse.

David and Jill found themselves going to the same lakes that his mother and father had visited, reliving their love story.

Jill had grown up an only child and had struggled with a father who was abusive and an alcoholic, she said.

“I vowed very early on that I wouldn’t marry a man like my father,” Jill said.

David meant so much to Jill right away. He still does. He brings her coffee in bed and puts the toothpaste on her brush at night.

“He’s special,” Jill said.

The couple stayed in Spokane for a couple of years after getting married, then David got a job in Portland, Ore. He worked for the Port of Portland for 30 years before retiring.

Jill and David moved when he got a job as marine terminals director at the Port of Everett about 18 months ago. They have two daughters and two grandchildren.

Jill describes David as good and compassionate. He’s easygoing and always gets a job done. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’re doing, David goes the extra mile to help.

Jill says that being good friends who are willing to listen to each other will put other couples just starting out in good stead.

“Willing to agree to disagree,” Jill said. “Always willing to compromise and willing to see each other’s point of view.”

Jill says she was told as a child that she wasn’t smart or good enough. But David asks her, “What makes you think you can’t?” Because of that, she has adopted a “glass is half full” approach to life.

“He is like the rock of Gibraltar,” Jill said. “No matter what he faces, he’s just my rock.”

For information on Love Story or free Celebrations, please call Christina Harper at 425-339-3491 or e-mail harper@heraldnet.com.