The past 32 years weren't a slow dance for Rod and Lois Ford, but they danced through the decades anyway.

They managed a business, cared for their family and joined community organizations in the small Ellis County town of Gage. Yet they made time for something they enjoyed: square-dancing.

"We've been doing that for a long, long time," Rod Ford, 77, said. "We've had a lot of fun, and most times were good. Maybe a few times weren't, but that's life."

They served for years as callers for square-dance clubs across Northwest Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle, spending countless hours memorizing da...