Country Icon George Strait and Wife Norma Married for 48 Years ‘Still Like Each Other. A Lot!’

Fame and marriage are two things that don’t seem to last long for many people in the entertainment industry. But modern country music icon George Strait has been the exception to the rule, remaining “The King of Country” since the 80s even as he spent 48 years with his wife, Norma Strait. Love came early for George and Norma, who were high school sweethearts in South Texas. “Norma was the first girl I ever loved,” Strait told CBS Local. “We knew each other forever, growing up in a small town.” The couple were married in Mexico in 1971, before George enlisted in the U.S. Army, and have been together ever since, through thick and thin. “We do almost everything together,” Strait told People. “We love each other and we still like each other. A lot!” The Straits have certainly had their share of successes but have also faced significant challenges. George made it through the final years of the Vietnam War, being posted in Hawaii, where he started playing music for the troops in a band called “Rambling Country.” After being honorably discharged in 1975, he and Norma went back to their native Texas and settled in San Marcos, where George got his degree from what was then Southwest Texas State University. Music soon became his primary professional passion, but he was always a devoted family man. The couple’s first child, Jenifer, was born in 1972 in Hawaii. Sadly, in June 1986, they lost their beloved daughter to a car accident in Texas. A teenage friend of hers who was driving lost control of the vehicle and crashed. Even today, George and Norma prefer not to talk to the press about this traumatic experience, but this loving father did say to People: “We were blessed to have been able to spend 13 years with our beautiful daughter Jenifer.”...MORE