In his writings of his life, Walt tells about his courtship with Alice: On May 8 (1932), which was Mother's day that year, I had become
engaged to marry Alice Williams of Tampico. We had a date once every three weeks
and we wrote love letters back and forth. As we were officially ready for
marriage, Alice came to visit a few times while we lived in Wyoming. We were both very shy and had
never dated anyone else. We anxiously awaited the day that we could marry and live together as husband and wife.......So with $27.oo in my pocket and my brother Don's model A Ford, I drove
to New Bedford, Illinois, which was 60 miles away, where Alice was staying with her sister, Edith Allen. Alice readily consented to being
married that very day. We paid $3.00 for a marriage license in Toulon and my
bother Don and my mother stood up with us at a parsonage across the street. Only 15 minutes later we walked out as man and wife. We
never really had enough time together to know how wonderful our life would be or how much we really loved each other. On Monday morning I began the
new job and shared a home with my sister, Ethel and her husband, Don Walton. We purchased a $5.00 cook stove, a homemade table, used chairs for
fifty cents and a new Sears bed which cost about $20.00. We set up housekeeping
and were very happy appreciating each other and what little we had. In1932, when I started out, our country was in the heart of the
great depression. We were all poor people, but we were happy and very contented. We had to move often and never dreamed of owning our own home."
Gail Helle wrote the following: "Walter found Alice Frona Williams in
our tomato patch. They were married when they were twenty years old."
(Sharon Bearce)