Harmon’s Histories: Determined Missoula tots ‘wed’ in police station ceremony

By Jim Harmon

The couple walked into the Missoula Police Department on Saturday, January 7, 1950, and told the front desk officer, “We want to get married, mister.”

Officer Jack Walsh, standing nearby, thought he’d misheard the request. After all, police neither issue marriage licenses nor perform marriage ceremonies.

So he walked over the to front desk and, “Sure enough, there was a couple at the front desk.”

“The ‘groom’ was Philip Heinle, a brunette boy, age 6, and the ‘bride’ was Ila Arnold, a curly haired, blonde girl of 4.”

The front desk officer, John Moon, inquired, “Do you have any money?” The couple dug in their pockets, producing an impressive 20-cents, which they “pushed across the desk.”

The officer promptly replied, “I’ll marry you right away. Step into the judge’s chambers.”

But the couple protested, “We don’t want to get married until tomorrow – we just want to buy a marriage license.”

Officer Moon, not wanting to disappoint the young lovebirds, found some official-looking letterhead and created a marriage license, “made out to the police department.”

Missoulian newspaper reporter Stan Healy described the document in detail in a follow-up article on January 9, 1950.

“I hereby certify that Philip Henry, age 6, and Ila Arnold, age 4, have this day applied for permission to marry, and have paid a fee of 26 cents.”

A call was placed to the “bride’s mother, Mrs. Carl Arnold, on Cooper Street, who picked up the young couple straight away. The officers returned the kids’ 26 cents, and that was the end of it.

Except, it wasn’t.

On Sunday afternoon, the young couple returned to the police station, this time chaperoned by their mothers, telling Desk Sgt. T.E. Foust, “Now we want to be married.”

The officers were up to the task, ushering the youngsters into the judge’s chambers. “Sergeant Foust and Patrolman Wayne Rumer became witnesses. With a copy of a ‘marriage ritual’ hidden in a phone book, Patrolman Walsh read the nuptials.”

“The children’s mothers smiled as the groom placed a ring on the bride’s finger and kissed her.”

Philip and Ila had been planning and plotting this marriage for some time, according to Mrs. Herman Heiny, who lived on Cooper street.

She told reporter Stan Healy, “They started uptown last week to get a marriage license but a woman on the bus told them it would cost two dollars, so they came home. Then they ran away Saturday, got the permit, and told their parents, ‘We are going to get married tomorrow.’”

Mrs. Heiny said, “Philip has a job. He makes 25 cents a day raking leaves and taking care of puppies. He is going to have his wife stay with her parents (next door neighbors) until he gets bigger.”

She added, “He plans to be a doctor and his wife is going to be a nurse. She’s already asked for a nurse’s uniform.”

The couple had originally planned to get married at church, but Philip overslept on Sunday, leaving Ila at the altar. That’s why they went to police station.

Mrs. Heiny added that Ila comes over to her home every day to make tea for Philip. As they sip tea, they play matchmaker for Philip’s little sister.

“Unable to to find a man for her to marry,” wrote Healy, “they made arrangements for her to marry the family cat. This made a rather dim impression on the young relative and she stopped talking to them.”