Man pays back wife for marriage license

Rick Ervin settled an outstanding debt Friday night, when he paid back his wife - with interest - for the $3 he borrowed 55 years ago to pay for their marriage license.

Ervin paid back his wife, Ruth, as they drank wine at Uncle Joe's Tavern in celebration of their decades-long marriage. After they gave each other greeting cards, Ervin presented her with a letter from Independence Bank, a statement saying he owed her $40.91 in interest and then paid her in one dollar bills and pennies.

"Does this take me off the hook now? I got a letter from the bank and everything," Ervin said. "I have to be out from under your thumb, you can't hold it over me anymore."

Ruth accepted the money, saying when she goes to the store the clerks like when she pays with one dollar bills.

"Yes," Rick said, raising his arms in victory.

The debt extended back to June 9, 1962, the day the Ervins' were married in Crystal Lake, Illinois. When the couple were applying for their marriage license, Ervin found that he didn't have any money. He then had to borrow $3 from her.

"I had to pay for the license," Ruth Ervin said. "The male was supposed to pay for the license."

Throughout the years, the debt has become the subject of playful arguments between the Ervins. She would raise the issue occasionally.

"When I try and pay her back, she wants it with interest to the penny," he said.

He said his wife has had health problems lately so he wanted to make this year's anniversary a special one.

Rick Ervin met Ruth Tronét in the early 1960s, when the two lived in the same Chicago apartment building. At the time, Ervin worked for an airline and lived with a couple of his male friends, while his future wife was a nurse who lived with several female roommates. After a few months of dating, he proposed to her.

Tthe years have brought the Ervins two grown children and five grandchildren, along with several moves and Rick holding a variety of jobs.

Through it all though, laughter has been a constant part of the Ervins' life together.

For Rick, one particular incident from the early days of their marriage stands out. After Rick transferred to Milwaukee, he and Ruth attended a party one night. After a few drinks, Mexican music began playing and Rick placed a lampshade on his head and did the Mexican hat dance.

"After that, she said, 'You will never embarrass me again.' I've been trying ever since," he said.

The incident would be mentioned frequently. Ruth said she would sometimes see cartoons in the newspaper of someone wearing a lampshade and tease her husband about it.

When preparing to pay her back, Rick reached out to their son, who then contacted a niece of Rick's who works at Independence Bank. Bank President Miles Hamilton wrote a letter.

"My final advice Ruth ... Don't take Rick's check, demand cash only," the letter says.

In a final twist, though, Rick received two different estimates of what the interest that accrued from his debt was. The estimate from the bank calculated yearly interest and said Ervin owed her $40.91 in interest, while a separate estimate from his son measured the interest monthly and said he owed $43.66.

Rick made sure he had the bill covered and paid her a total of $45.41.

Joking aside though, they said, the years have been good to the Ervins.

"This lady has followed me wherever I have wanted to go, let me do anything I've wanted to do," he said.

Ruth said they have had "a very good marriage" and the teasing has helped.

"If you can't have fun, what's the point?" she asked. "You have to be able to have a good time with one another, and you have to give them hell."