Couple Sealed in the Dallas Texas Temple at Age 90

Contributed By Alex Reimschussel, Church News staff writer

  • 21 May 2019

Bud and Shirley Anderson are photographed on the day of their sealing.  Photo courtesy of Lynn Gregson.

Article Highlights

  • Bud and Shirley lost touch when they were teenagers but reconnected over the phone after 70 years.
  • Shirley was baptized five days after she and Bud were married, at age 89.
  • The couple was sealed in the temple this past March.

“I just feel that by being baptized, I have been forgiven, and I feel free again. I feel it was something that washed away all of those other things that had been troubling me.” —Shirley Anderson

Bud and Shirley Anderson have known each other since they were first-graders in a small Oregon town, but they lost touch in their teenage years. More than 70 years passed before they reconnected after both had been widowed.

Shirley told LDS Living she hadn’t been out with a man for 10 years when Bud asked her on a date. Though she declined the date because he lived in Arkansas and she was in Oregon, the two ended up talking on the phone every night.

Shirley said she didn’t have any intention of joining the Church, but when she attended church, she couldn’t deny the Spirit she felt.

Shirley was baptized on October 11, 2017, five days after Bud and Shirley were married, at age 89.

“I just feel that by being baptized, I have been forgiven, and I feel free again. I feel it was something that washed away all of those other things that had been troubling me. I don’t worry about them. I don’t think about them anymore. I am happy,” Shirley said.

The Andersons were sealed in the Dallas Texas Temple in March of this year.

“Everything in my life has led me to this point—to join this church and to go to the temple,” Shirley said.

Bud and Shirley Anderson haven’t slowed down in the gospel, and Gretchen Gregson, who served as their temple prep teacher, said they are great examples of constant progression.

“She’s really become a student of the gospel,” Gregson said. “I just am so impressed that you can never stop learning. It’s just neat to see life being lived to the fullest.”

Shirley Anderson found this photo of her and Bud buried in the sand around the time of their eighth-grade year as she prepared to move to Arkansas to marry Bud. Photo courtesy of Bud and Shirley Anderson.

Bud and Shirley smile for a photo on their wedding day. Photo courtesy of Bud and Shirley Anderson.

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