LIFE IS GOOD FOR TWO FORMER BACHELORS

Back when the local newspaper listed bachelors for single women's benefit, Cape Girardeau County Collector Harold Kuehle and Dr. Wendell Wyatt were regulars.

Not anymore.

Both made the list for the last time on Feb. 29, 1968. The names had an interesting introduction.

"A public-spirited, service-minded newspaper, ever eager to serve, has conducted an extensive survey to gather Leap Year information for its single women readers," the article read.

"Ladies, if you do catch them, treat them kindly," it went on. "It's quite a shock for a gay bachelor, used to his freedom and his own peculiar creature habits, to be ensnared by a dainty little thing with great tenacity and will."

For Kuehle and Wyatt, the "dainty little things" didn't come along until years after the 1968 article ran.

Kuehle was 32 years old back then, a relative newcomer to the county collector's position. He hired a young woman to be his chief deputy collector. He started dating her and eventually asked her to marry him. They tied the knot on Feb. 7, 1970.

"One day I was a bachelor, the next I had four sons," Kuehle said. "Now that's called culture shock."

Shock or no shock, the marriage lasted. Kuehle and his wife, Peggy, celebrated their 26th anniversary this year. They joke that it isn't a record, but it's better than average.

Peggy Kuehle went to work in the county auditor's office after her wedding and still is there. Working in the same building was good for the marriage, her husband said.

"One of the things man and wife have trouble with is communication," Kuehle said. "Here, we work every day in the same building and eat together at lunch. When problems come up, we can talk about them."

Wyatt, the other former bachelor, was a 27-year-old high school teacher in 1968. Now he boasts a long and happy marriage. He wed his wife, Wanda, in 1977, and the couple has two teen-agers.

A math professor at Southeast Missouri State University, Wyatt remembered when the Leap Day 1968 article ran. A reporter called to ask if he would mind being listed.

"Someone apparently confused that with my birthday," Wyatt said. "I got a call from a former student Feb. 29 this year. She wished me a happy birthday on my answering machine."