Rood and Hester McCartney have returned to their home place on Pine Creek to be closer to their children, after living in East Liverpool, Ohio, for 40 years.

They have lifelong roots in Calhoun. Their sons, Robert and Richard, reside in the county, along with four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

The former Hester Boggs was born in Grantsville on Mar. 3, 1920, to Gay and Cordelia Husk Boggs. She has a brother, Leonard Boggs, and a sister, Vernie Boggs, both deceased.

As a child, she lived in Grantsville and Cremo, and attended Cremo Church. As a young girl, she remembers helping her grandfather, Isaac Husk, to the dinner table. He was a veteran of the Civil War.

She also remembers when her grandmother, Rachel Husk, would take her and her cousins to the cellar. Hester thought her grandmother was going to feed her rotten apples, when in fact the young ones were helping Rachel get rid of rotten apples.

Rood Paris McCartney was born on Apr. 24, 1918, in Index to Otis and Rebecca Goff McCartney. He was named after a traveling preacher and the capital of France. He was one of 13 children.

Rood received this Cowboy Loye guitar at age 12.

He attended Fairview School, and recalls going to St. Paul Church bare footed. As a youth, he recalls walking on stilts made out of tree branches and using corn to play checkers. While in school, he remembers being the janitor and being paid $8 a month.

Hester and Rood met at a social gathering at Cremo School. He was 20 and she was 18. The couple courted for eight months before deciding to marry. They eloped to Maryland on Apr. 27, 1939.

They purchased a 140-acre farm on Pine Creek. Rood worked in the coal mines in Dry Branch, near Charleston. In 1943, six weeks after Robert was born, Rood was drafted into the Army.

Hester, Rood and son Robert.

He had been working in a defense plant in Cleveland as a sand blaster when World War II began. He was a Private First Class medical aide.

Rood was wounded in action in Italy on Sept. 27, 1944. He received a Bronze Star for Heroic Action, the Purple Heart medal, and Good Conduct medal.

Rood McCartney

After returning home, the couple farmed, and Rood became a mail carrier on Pine Creek. In 1947, Hester gave birth to Richard at the old home place.

Hester recalled how she made all the bread for Pine Creek School while her boys attended, and was the school cook for a year.

Rood and Hester also raised some of their nieces and nephews. Hester said they always had a good time and a full house.

In 1968, Hester joined Rood in East Liverpool, where he was employed by American Vetrified, a company that made clay pipe for sewer lines. Rood retired in 1972.

Rood and Hester have tried to remain active in gardening. Hester has quilted over the years for family and friends. They enjoy keeping in contact with family. Hester and niece Ureda Cogar of Ohio talk nightly on the phone.

Rood and Hester do not believe in wasting anything, and try to recycle when they can.

What has kept them together for 69 years? Hester said “sheer love” and Rood said love. He said they never fought, things just always went okay, and he “wasn’t a griper.” They still hold hands.

Rood and Hester McCartney

I have known these special people all my life. They are my grandparents. As I was doing the story, I realized how much they have done in their lives. As a child, if I would have asked Papaw to give me the moon and stars, he would have found a way to make it happen.

Someone once told me I have my Papaw’s smile. What a compliment! As for Gram, I’ve been told I have her sense of humor and laugh; plus, she is the best fried tater maker ever.

When asked about their move back to West Virginia, they agreed, “As long as we are together, home is where you make it.”