For Marjorie Williams, it was love at first sight. Well, almost.

When she came out of a movie theater in Kalispell with her friend in 1944 and found two boys looking to “pick them up,” she presented a counter offer.

“I invited him to my place,” she said about the day she met her husband, Warren Williams. “The first thing we got to talking about was our birthdays. We had been born on the exact same day.”

The two shared a birthday on Feb. 25, 1927. Marjorie began to warm up to the young fellow sitting across from her in her parents’ home.

“I fell head over heels in love with him right then,” she said. “I would have married him that night if he had asked me.”

“Oh, is that how it happened?” Warren joked.

The two still exude love with every smile and every touch. They’ll be celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary on April 23.

After that fateful summer evening, the two dated for nine months before getting married at just 18 years old. Warren was born in Proctor and Marjorie was born in Rudyard. Both had just moved to Kalispell.

“We’re country people and proud of it,” Marjorie said.

The two spent time in Missoula, with Warren working for a dairy.

“I couldn’t stand it down there,” he said.

So they moved to Gildford for a period, and then to the Farm-to-Market Road area northwest of Kalispell. The couple built a house and raised a son, Dale, on the property.

Dale Williams was a Flathead County commissioner from 1997 to 2002. He died in 2011.

The couple moved from the Farm-to-Market area to Trego, where they lived until last October. Now they reside at Village Greens, thanks to the help of their daughter-in-law and grandson.

“We tried living in Kalispell, but Warren just hated it,” Marjorie said. “[In Trego] I was used to people dropping in for coffee and cookies and pie all the time. It’s quiet here.”

“Nice and quiet,” Warren quipped.

After Warren left the dairy business he spent years in a mill as a sawyer and in the woods salvaging downed lumber for the state. Marjorie became a homemaker renowned for her pies.

Seven decades of marriage have gone by surprisingly fast.

“It just don’t feel any different than when we were married at 18,” she said.

“It doesn’t feel like 70 years,” he said. “The months have gone by so fast.”

Sixty people are planning to come to the couple’s celebration the Saturday after their anniversary. The planner, Marjorie’s younger sister Sharon Reynolds, said the day will start with a nice lunch and continue with visits and lots of reminiscing.

“It’s been a journey every step of the way,” Marjorie said.

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.