50TH ANNIVERSARY: Shields

Corwin and Bonnie Shields, Chanute, will celebrate their 50th anniversary Sunday with a family gathering for the weekend in Kansas City.

Hosts of the event will be their three children and their spouses, Pat and Starla Shields, Chanute, Brenda and Clint Combs, Arkansas City, and Judy Williams, Leawood.

Corwin Shields married the former Bonnie Ward on June 28, 1959, at Church of the Brethren in Ottawa. The service was performed by Bonnie’s cousin, Roy W. Browning Jr. They spent the first few years of their married life in Ottawa where Corwin helped operate a family-owned implement business and later worked for the Ford dealership as sales manager.

In 1968, they purchased the General Motors dealership in Osage City, which they owned until 1982. In 1985, they moved to Chanute where they owned and operated Shields Motor Co., until Corwin’s retirement in 2008.

Bonnie worked for the first year of their marriage at Kansas State Bank in Ottawa and later enjoyed working as bookkeeper and office manager in their business. The three years they were out of the car business, she worked as a legal secretary.

They have enjoyed spending part of each winter in Naples, Fla., for the last nine years.

The couple have five grandchildren, Derrick and Cortney Shields, Chanute, Tyler Combs, Wichita, Travis Combs, Lawrence, and Anna Williams, Leawood.