Meet the couple who started our family…

Joe and Babe

Born in Shannon, Mississippi in 1915, Dr. Joe W. King was a father, a grandfather, well-known orthopedic surgeon, war veteran, gardener, baseball lover, and self-taught mechanic. He always wore his cap tilted to the side and stirred his Tab and scotch with his finger.

Born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1913, Olive “Babe” Black was a mother, grandmother, socialite, teacher, advocate, and tester of new recipes. She loved to host people, and every time someone visited her house, she would stand on the porch and wave goodbye until the car was completely out of sight.

Joe and Babe married on May 30, 1940, and started the beginning of a long and happy marriage, full of love letters, spunky kids, broken-down cars, and drinking coffee on the beach.

Read more about Joe and Babe in our new book, Dearest Babe, Letters from a World War II Flight Surgeon, available now!