Family held together by bond of love

By NICOLE HESTER-WILLIAMS

Golden Triangle News Service

FAIRFIELD ? It was a cup of coffee that changed Jim Allerdice?s life.

?The best part of my life happened in 1967. I looked in the mirror and I saw this girl I knew,? Allerdice described catching a glimpse of his wife, JoAnn?s reflection on the day they officially met. ?I asked her if she would have a cup of coffee with me, and she said ?OK.??

That chance meeting triggered a chain of events that forged a family bond, and a four-decade long farming career.

?I didn?t plan on ever getting married again,? JoAnn Allerdice admitted.

A young widow raising five children on her own, she feared that a second husband might cause problems.

?I had one son, but I was also raising girls, and I didn?t want to take a chance on them being abused,? she said.

Although some didn?t agree with their union, the couple said their meeting was an answer to both of their prayers.

?My mother said ?Are you going to marry that woman with all of those children??? Allerdice recalled.  ?I said ?I hope so.??

The couple married one year later with the approval of JoAnn?s children and the parents of her deceased husband.

?The children would ask me when I was going to marry Jim so they could start calling him Dad,? JoAnn Allerdice recalled. ?Jim asked Guy and Helen Fry for my hand in marriage. They had lost two sons including my husband. I really believe it was because of their prayers too, that I found Jim.?

JoAnn?s daughter, Diane Van Winkle said she was happy when her mother married.

?It was wonderful,? Van Winkle recalled. ?He fit right in.?

JoAnn?s youngest daughter, Bobbette Buch, was seven at the time. She ruminated about family vacations with Jim.

?When we went everywhere,? she said, ?there would be eight of us in a station wagon.?

?This was my prayer to have a family,? Allerdice said. ?I had to rent a U-Haul when we went on vacations to fit all of the kids? bikes.?

During that time, Jim worked for Alliant Energy. He also started working evenings on the Fry?s family farm in 1975.

After Fry passed away in 1986, Allerdice retired from Alliant and farmed full-time for 28 more years.

?You need to have faith to plant a seed and watch it grow,? he said.  ?Look at this,? he said, holding up an ear of corn from his field. ?The good Lord made an even number of kernels around an ear of corn. Farming has to be in your blood. You?ve got to love it.?

At 86, Allerdice hoped this harvest season to be his last. However, family matters took precedence, causing him to retire sooner.

?I quit last month because JoAnn had a stroke, and I needed to be there for her,? he said.

Now, the couple said they?re enjoying their newfound freedom.

?We watched the Notebook the other night, and I said ?Jim, that could be us,? JoAnn said.

Jim responded with a smile.

?It?s called love,? he said. ?Always be honest in everything you do. Be the guiding light for someone else whom you know nothing about. Let faith carry you through and never stop loving your family and friends.?