Springville’s Blanche Self will be the first to tell you she has lived a remarkable 90 years. She is even quicker to tell you that her life would have been nothing without God. As a matter of fact, her life is based in this order — God, family, friends.Self was born Jan. 4, 1918 and even at 90, she continues to enjoy life to the fullest. But her life with her husband of almost 70 years had some rocky moments — that is until Self told her husband to get down on his knees and pray.
Self was 17 when she first met William Joseph Self. It was his aunt who introduced them.
“I worked at a small restaurant in California,” Self recalled. “William was a truck driver at the time and he came into the restaurant one day and he winked at me. I fixed him a hamburger and forgot to put the meat on it.”
Self said William never said a word about the hamburger and that’s the way he was about life. He never complained.
“He was the most wonderful man in the world,” Mrs. Self said. “I called him Billo. It was love at first sight and love is what kept us together.”
Billo was a merchant seaman and that kept him away from home long periods at a time. He was on tankers that supplied oil during the war.
Self said the troublesome times early on in the marriage were when she and Billo both smoked and he enjoyed drinking.
“Our life together became richer and fuller when we both got down on our knees and asked God to take the need of nicotine and alcohol from our bodies,” Self said. “From that moment on, neither one of us smoked and he quit drinking. I told him I was not going to raise my daughters around alcohol.”
Billo and Blanche raised two daughters, Sandi Gordon and Judy Key. Both girls were born in California. From there, they moved to Florida, then on to Birmingham before moving to Springville. Their youngest daughter, Judy, died in 1992 from leukemia.
For the past 16 years, Billo, Blanche, their children, grandchildren and great grandchildren have been members of Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church in Springville.
Had Billo lived one more month and nine days, the two would have been married 70 years. However, he died Oct. 10, 2007 due to kidney failure.
“It is so very important for people to trust in God and attend church,” Self said. “The key to our long marriage was putting God first.
Mrs. Gordon said her dad was so very devoted to family and her mother.
“With him being away so much, I believe he always spent time trying to make up for lost time,” Gordon said. “Mother was like a mom and dad because our daddy was gone so much. She paid the bills and had the car repaired when it broke down and things like that. When problems occurred, she had to handle them. However, we all understood, dad was the provider. His job forced him to be gone from home a majority of the time.”
Self said God has blessed her with a wonderful family and she thanks God every night for her wonderful family.
W. C. and Sandi Gordon’s daughter, Vallie, married Jeff Beason and they have two children, Joel Beason and Lauren Beason.
Billo and Blanche had the chance to see both great grandchildren play sports at Springville High School. She has two more great grandchildren who live in Tennessee.
“Dad played semi-pro baseball while growing up,” Mrs. Gordon said. “So he was very much interested and loved baseball.”
Self’s son-in-law’s nephew is MLB pitcher Jimmy Key, who pitched for the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays.
Self said she is so blessed to have made so many friends during the years. When asked her favorite verse in the Bible, she said, “All of them. I read a complete chapter in my Bible every night before I go to bed.”
She also thanks God every night for her wonderful family. And just think; it all started over 70 years ago when a young waitress gave a young, handsome truck driver a hamburger with no meat.
