Mr. and Mrs. Donald Phillip Thacker Ruth Green Gerkins and Donald Phillip Thacker were married August 6, 1955. The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary August 6, 2005, with family and friends.

Prior to their retirements, Don was the chief of Social Work Service at Dorn Veterans Hospital. Ruth was a registered nurses supervisor with the South Carolina Department of Mental Health.

The couple resides in Reflections in Columbia. They have three children: Phillip Thacker of Irmo; Sara Hancock of Columbia; and Molly McQuire of Radford, Virginia; and five grandchildren.

The Thacker’s children gave them an anniversary trip to Cuernavaca, Taxco, and Guanajuato in Colonial Mexico