Beatrice and Ralph Pohto

Beatrice and Ralph Pohto, of Richland, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Sept. 18 with a family dinner at their son's home in Kirkland.

They were married on Sept. 18, 1962, at the First Methodist Church in Great Falls, Mont. They moved to the Mid-Columbia in 1986 from Clinton, Ill.

Beatrice worked as a licensed practical nurse in many states before retiring from Kadlec Hospital in Richland in 2002 after 14 years there.

Ralph worked as a radiochemist for Battelle, the Naval Reactors Facility and Argonne National Laboratory in Idaho. He was an instructor for Energy Northwest and various Hanford contractors before retiring in 2002 from Hanford Operations.

Their retirement activities include family genealogy research, volunteer teaching, the Eagles Lodge, gardening and travel.

They have one son, Mark Pohto of Kirkland and a daughter, the late Marina Browe.

They have three grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.