Staff writer
Chris Kerns of Marion has a cabinet full of cups and saucers she has collected through the years. A small group of them are extra-special. They were purchased for her by her late husband, Master Sergeant Larry Kerns, who spent more than 20 years serving five presidents — Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford — as a flight engineer on Air Force One. He also often flew government officials on mission trips abroad.
He learned to know the presidents and their families. Kerns recalled that one time the late Alexander Haig, Secretary of State under President Reagan, came to her husband on a stop overseas and asked him what to do about spilled coffee on his shirt.
“Put your raincoat on. It’s raining outside,” he told him.
After American astronauts returned from their trip to the moon, Larry Kerns and his crew flew them around the world. He became acquainted with them and wished he could have been an astronaut.
Wherever he went, Larry brought back something to add to Kerns’ collection. It now includes almost 25 teacups from around the world. They include sets from Switzerland, France, Brazil, Japan, Germany, Greece, England, and Norway.
One cup has unique memories for her. It is a keepsake from Rome, Italy. As a 16-year-old teen-ager, Kerns spent three months with her mother in France. They were touring Rome when she met Larry at the Coliseum, and he kissed her for the first time.
They were married two years later in Dover, Del. Because of Larry’s career in the Air Force, they moved frequently while raising four children. When Larry retired in 1971, the couple moved to Marion. Larry died in 2004.
Kerns will be turning 74 in May, and she cherishes her collection of cups and saucers. They bring back memories of the rich and varied life she and her husband shared.