Cora Williams and Bill Lietz, both formerly homeless Lawrence residents, kiss after getting married Thursday, July 14, 2011, in a ceremony with friends at Holcom Park.

Though the wedding ceremony may have seemed simple to those driving by, the bride and groom and witnesses said it was anything but.

Bill Lietz was the groom, getting married on his 56th birthday. His bride, Cora Williams (now Cora Lietz), greeted him at a shelter in Holcom Park in Lawrence, where the ceremony took place.

They’ve been through a lot, they said. They met in Topeka about five years ago, when both were homeless. They lived in Lawrence together, after Cora followed Bill to live in the Lawrence shelter.

“I didn’t think she’d last two weeks, but she stuck it out, so she’s a keeper,” he said.

Shelter life is a hard life, he said — going around from the park to the library during the day, and back to the shelter at night, with only a small sack of belongings.

Life got better for the couple, though. Cora now has a job at Goodwill, 2200 W. 31st St. She’s done so well that she’s advanced to a supervisory position. They have their own apartment now.

Bill doesn’t work, but he does the domestic chores, takes care of their dog and runs errands.

A co-worker at Goodwill remembered how Bill would take the couple’s car, run some errands, and leave it for Cora at Goodwill and walk home so she could drive it back herself.

“Whatever part I’m not, he is,” Cora said.

The pastor, the Rev. Donald Parker, met the couple through Goodwill, and several of Cora’s Goodwill co-workers witnessed the wedding.

“Cora’s just a sweet person,” said Ashley Hinrichs, who hangs clothes at Goodwill. “I speak for us all when I say we definitely wish them the best that life can give.”