May 12, 2024 marked the 40th anniversary of the dedication ceremony of the famous bronze statue in Kansas City titled “Married Love.” 

In 1984, the ESU Kansas City Branch was a major benefactor to help fund a permanent bronze statue of Winston and Clementine Churchill in a prominent location in Kansas City. The statue was designed by British sculptor Oscar Nemon, who had created several Churchill works. The sculpture is titled, “Married Love” and at 6 feet by 12 feet, it is a larger version of the original at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England, where Churchill was born and later proposed to Clementine. 

The ESU Kansas City Branch held a major fundraiser for the sculpture and arranged a theatrical production about Churchill’s life to spark interest. The production, titled, “Churchill,” played for one evening on November 28, 1982. The benefit performance raised the funds needed to complete and maintain the $250,000 sculpture which was dedicated on May 12, 1984 with Churchill’s granddaughter Edwina Sandys and the Duke of Marlborough in attendance. This video describes the history of this statue.

Program cover for Churchill statue dedication