‘Tis the season…of love! Many a couple has been formed at Reed college, and while not all of them make it out of the bubble intact, there are still so many others with tales sure to make even the most cynical Reedie’s heart melt.
This Valentine’s Day I want to share with you the story of (to my knowledge) the oldest living Reed couple, Eva Labby ’51 and Arnold Labby ’51. Arnold recently celebrated his 100th birthday with his wife of 67 years, Eva, in their lovely home just outside of Portland and near their mutual alma mater: Reed College.
For an oral history project with the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education, Arnold recounts their first date: “…my brother Bob had a blind date with Lorie, his wife, Lorie Carrow. She wasn’t quite sure about him…So she brought along Eva, and the next thing I knew Bob was yelling up the stairs to me, “Get dressed! You’re going out.” “Who am I going out with?” “You’ll find out when you come down.” It was Eva, and that’s how we met.”
While they attended Reed at the same time, and even went on that date before they both graduated, they didn’t really get together until years later, when they reconnected in San Francisco.
In San Francisco, they were only “buddies” at first, as Eva called it. One day, Arnold mentioned he was going back up to Portland to visit family and offered Eva a ride if she wanted to come along. She ended up forgetting about his offer….until the next morning, when he showed up at her door with a pot of hot coffee. He told her “If you want to go, I’ll wait,” and that he did. They drove to Portland together and later in the week even attended the same party. On the way back down to San Francisco, Eva realized she suddenly saw Arnold in a new light.
Some time later, after a night in with a home cooked dinner, the pair was watching The Maltese Falcon and Arnold proposed! Three days later, Eva accepted, and the rest is history. The happy couple has since spent the last 6 and a half decades together, with their three children.
You can read more about these sweethearts and others here in the Winter 2007 edition of the Reed Magazine.
Are you a #Reedie4Reedies person? Refuse to ever date another Reedie? Married four times but just keep coming back to other Reedies? Tell me about it and give me hope?
Awaiting my reed romance,
Taliah Churchill ’25