MALMEDE 75th

Joe and Marie (Gulker) Malmede celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary on June 9, 2016.

They were married June 9, 1941, in Birmingham, Ala., at the parsonage of a church Joe attended while a young boy. After a miraculous conversion during Joe's tour of service in World War II, they were baptized in 1946 in Lima, Ohio. Joe entered the literature evangelist work almost immediately after their baptism and continued as a colporteur until he was encouraged by his pastor to further his education.

The Malmedes moved to Tennessee in 1950, when Joe enrolled at Southern Missionary College (now Southern Adventist University) in Collegedale.

He accepted a call to the Southern Publishing Association (SPA) in Nashville, Tenn., where he started as an artist in 1954 then became the assistant director of the art department and the art editor of Message magazine. During the summers, Marie worked in the periodical department helping with the These Times campaign.

Joe and Marie became members of the Bordeaux Church family in Nashville. After the original church burned, Joe drew the plans for the existing building and, as chairman of the building committee, spent many hours with their church family constructing a house of worship.

With Joe's background in theology, he was very active in serving as a lay pastor and worked with the young people in the junior department. As an avid seamstress, Marie enjoyed working with the Dorcas Society (Adventist Community Services) working with the church ladies to make quilts to give to those in need.

The Malmedes, while raising five daughters, moved to Ridgetop, Tenn., in 1965. Once again, Joe drew the plans and was very involved in building the church there. He and Marie served in many church offices at the Ridgetop Church, and Joe was a spiritual leader to the congregation.

While Marie spent most of their married life as a homemaker and mother, she went back to work at the SPA as a typesetter from 1974 to 1978. After the SPA restructured the art department, Joe was asked to be the maintenance supervisor.

Just like Joseph in the Bible, other responsibilities were added to Joe's supervisory position of the maintenance and shop departments; these additions included the janitorial department, the guards, the 40,000-square-foot building and the grounds. He held this position for the last seven years until the SPA merged with the Review and Herald, and the Nashville plant was closed. After retirement Joe returned to the literature evangelist work, accompanied by Marie.

Joe and Marie have a love for the Lord and are committed to Christian education. Following their service as literature evangelists, they traveled together as Joe performed asbestos inspections, donating their time to help struggling church schools in the Kentucky-Tennessee Conference comply with government regulations.

The Malmedes pulled up their roots in Tennessee in 2013 and moved to Washington state to be closer to family.

Their family includes Joann and Jim France; Marie and Melvin Christian Sr.; Linda Wilhelm; Jeanie Malmede Van Allen and Kris Van Allen; Jan and Kent Greve; 15 grandchildren, 5 step-grandchildren and 33 great-grandchildren.