By Elizabeth Butler
VALDOSTA — While at a car dealership waiting for paperwork to be processed last fall, I saw a woman of mature years walk around the corner wearing a red sweater, white blouse and black slacks. A few steps behind her came her husband wearing a red sweater, white shirt and — you guessed it — black slacks. Joseph Lajoie, 96, and wife Elizabeth, 88, were there to pick up their red chili pepper-colored car trimmed in black, and (I would later learn) Elizabeth had thought it would be fun to dress up like their new car. During a delightful 2 1/2-hour visit with them in January, I found out Joseph had chosen the red car to match Elizabeth’s red Scooter trimmed in black.
To say these two Northern transplants are “sport models” is an understatement.
Despite their advanced ages, the Lajoies live independently in their well-protected home in the McMullen Estates Subdivision in Dasher. Both still drive, they pay their own bills, clean their own house (with occasional outside help), and buy their own groceries as Elizabeth scoots around the supermarket in her Scooter. Neither wears glasses, but uses readers to enjoy what is left of their extensive library. When they moved here six years ago from Williamsburg, Va., to be closer to her daughter, Amy Gilbert of Jacksonville, Fla., they gave half of their library, which filled one room, to their local library in Virginia.
Their Dasher home is exquisitely decorated with the paintings and portraits Elizabeth has done, including one of her great-grandmother, the late Elizabeth Kerr of Hawick, Scotland, which graces her mantel.
“My ancestors were born and lived in Scotland without ever having shoes on their feet,” she said. “(Joseph and I) lived in Scotland (for a year), and it’s cold there and snowy. They were hardier than we were. If you lived to be 25, that was good. You matured very early and women like my (many greats) grandmother would take a pot (to cook in) and her children to hide in the woods until the British were gone.”
A church in a Scottish village from the 13-15th centuries is one of the birdhouses Joseph fashioned in his workshop and Elizabeth painted.
“There was a time when the church was the only substantial building in a village,” said Elizabeth, a former high school history teacher. “People would go into the church and climb a ladder to the top, where they would fly their arrows and pour hot oil on their enemies. Sometimes, the enemies would break down the church door and kill all the villagers.”
Joseph’s birdhouses have sold for as much as $225 and Elizabeth’s portraits as high as $400. Also adding to the beauty of their home is the furniture Joseph has made and Elizabeth has painted with exquisite detail, including bedroom furniture, a coffee table with drawers, and an entertainment center.
Joseph was 59 and Elizabeth, 51, when they married 37 years ago. Both of their spouses had died. They are the perfect complement to each other: She is loquacious and outgoing while her husband is reticent and reserved.
“‘Lajoie’ means ‘The Joy’ and he is a joy — most of the time,” she said, smiling. “He’s a typical Frenchman: He’s moody (and) he holds a grudge.”
Elizabeth was born in Carney’s Point, N.J., but lived there only 3 1/2 months before her family moved to Parkersburg, W.Va., where her father, George Homan, was an architect for McCrory’s 5&10 cents store. His job would take him and his family to live in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Washington, D.C., and Texas.
Elizabeth attended Staunton College in Staunton, Va., receiving a Bachelor of Arts in British history and teaching in high school for five years.
She was married to the late Lenhardt Sparks, who died of a heart attack around 50 years old. Amy was their only child, and she gave them two grandchildren.
Amy had come to Athens to attend the University of Georgia, and Elizabeth came with her. Later they would move to Miami, where both worked at the University of Miami.
Joseph was born in Newport, Del., but moved with his family as an infant to Wilmington, Del. Both Elizabeth and Joseph are middle children.
“That’s what makes me so humble,” she teased.
“You’ll go to jail for lying,” her husband was quick to retort.
When Joseph was a teenager, his mom and stepdad moved to Penn’s Grove, N.J. After graduation from high school, he went to work for Dupont as a welder for 30 years. He married his first wife, and they had three daughters, Barbara Davidson of Mesa, Ariz.; Judith Hall of Myrtle Beach, S.C.; and Ruth Lajoie of Newark, Del. He has six grandchildren and several great-grandchildren.
Elizabeth said Joseph worked for about 75 years, beginning at age 11 in a jute mill. (“The dust was so thick you couldn’t see,” he said.)
“He had always wanted to have a steel fabrication and welding shop,” said Elizabeth, who gave him a building on her farm for his shop at Carney’s Point, N.J., across from Wilmington, Del. “He was still working for Dupont until he realized he was making more money at the shop.”
Joseph continued with his shop until 1991 when they moved to Williamsburg, Va., where they lived for 14 “fine” years.
“Williamsburg is such a beautiful place with many cultural events, but we were getting old and wanted to be closer to some relative, but not too close to feel burdened by us,” she said of their move here.
“The nicest people we’ve ever meet are in this town. The further north you go, the further reserved people become. They don’t mingle easily with strange people. When we moved here, everyone welcomed us, and they have continued to be nice.”
While South Georgians complained bitterly when temperatures dipped into the teens last month, the Lajoies thought nothing of the cold they were accustomed to from living in the North. Although Elizabeth’s hopes for the predicted snow were dashed, she was philosophical about it. With their burial plots already planned for Salem, N.J., she said, “I’m going to sleep every winter under a blanket of snow.”
