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The late Lala Ruiz was the love of her husband’s life for nearly 70 years, from their chance meeting at a dance in south Texas to her passing in early 2017.

And she remains so to this very day.

The memories of their remark-able life’s journey together, one which took them from the Rio Grande Valley to Arizona and eventually to La Conner, come flooding back to Tony Ruiz during his daily visits to Lala’s final resting place at Pleasant Ridge Cemetery.

Those treasured memories give Tony, who recently turned 92 but looks much younger, plenty of reason to be thankful this holiday season.

“She was a real sweetheart,” he says. “She was beautiful in every way. And it was beautiful all the good times that we had.”

Those good times began in the 1940s, on a night when Tony attended a dance in San Perlita, Texas.

He couldn’t help but notice the young woman who would become his wife, in his eyes the finest dancer on the floor.

For Tony, it was love at first sight.

Lala was dancing with a family friend. When Tony learned there was nothing serious between them he made his feelings known to Lala.

She would soon feel the same way about him.

The couple married shortly after in Raymondville, Texas.

“Meeting her really saved my life,” Tony reflects. “I was blessed that night to meet this very beautiful woman. I’m proud of what we were able to do. Every day I’m thankful for the life we had.”

La Conner was to be a big part of that life. Following friends who had moved to Skagit Valley, it was here that Tony and Lala raised their seven children and became fixtures in the community.

“We decided to make our future here,” he says. “We made many friends here.”

Tony worked 27 years for Moore-Clark, clocking overtime whenever possible. He was part of a crew that manned the hatchery fish-food processing plant that was long a major industrial employer in La Conner until its closing in 1992.

Lala, during that same time, cooked at the Lighthouse Inn, which in its hey-day was considered one of the finest waterfront dining spots in western Washington. A favorite draw for tourists and locals alike were its chefs regularly barbecuing salmon along First Street as foot traffic walked by.

“She was a terrific cook, a great wife, and a wonderful mother,” Tony says of Lala.

They shared many common interests, most notably collecting. Lala was partial to turtle figurines, Tony to old coins.

It remains hard for Tony to speak of Lala in past tense. Her image is never distant. And Lala’s name is displayed prominently on the dash of Tony’s pickup.

He carries favorite photographs of her wherever he goes.

One of those places is the Pleasant Ridge grave site, where inscribed into the headstone is their Sept. 3, 1949 wedding date.

Tony makes it a point to visit every day, often bringing flowers, sometimes taking lunch there.

“I’ve come every day since she passed away,” says Tony. “Rain or shine. She’s my sweetheart.”

As he speaks, Tony’s voice occasionally cracks. He pauses to wipe away tears.

Tony and Lala were inseparable for almost seven decades.

“After she passed away, and when I went someplace, people would ask ‘where’s your wife,’” Tony says. “When I told them that she had passed away, they said how sorry they were to hear that.”

Everyone said how much they missed seeing Lala. But what keeps Tony going is he can still feel her presence.

That, in itself, is a blessing, he says.

“We had such beautiful times together,” says Tony, “and I know she’s with me.”